Mildred Stahlman, MD, founder of the field of neonatology and pioneer in the treatment of lung disease in premature infants, died June 29 at 101.
Dr. Stahlman established the nation's first newborn intensive care unit at Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 1961, and created the hospital's division of neonatology. In the mid-1970s, she regionalized NICU services in Tennessee, according to a July 1 VUMC news release.
"She founded the field of neonatology, pioneering and permanently integrating the principles of science and bedside care for prematurely born babies," Meg Rush, MD, president of Nashville-based Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, said in the release. "Her discoveries have been instrumental in shaping the field for the past 60-plus years. She never wanted accolades for her work, or her influence for countless women entering medicine, yet she changed lives through strong mentoring, her passion for curiosity, her wisdom freely offered to anyone around her, her generosity of time and philanthropy to enable others to find their paths, and perhaps most importantly, her presence with people she cared about."
Read more about her life and legacy here.