Honoring Professor Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos

Sergio G Golombek; Endla Anday; Jonathan Davis; Marilyn Escobedo

doi:10.1038/s41390-020-01282-9

The Neonatology community mourns the loss of Dr. Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, a pioneer and legend in the field of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Maria passed away on September 11, 2020 and has been credited with saving thousands of neonates and improving the outcomes for thousands more. She was Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Physiology at Drexel University and the Ralph J. Brenner Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Bertold Brecht (1898–1956) wrote: “There are men who struggle for a day and they are good. There are men who struggle for a year and they are better. There are men who struggle many years and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives; These are the indispensable ones.” Without a doubt, Maria was one of the indispensable ones! Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos, M.D., was born in Greece. She received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the Sorbonne University and her medical degree at the National University, both in Greece. She came to the United States in 1959 for an internship in pediatrics at St. Francis and County Hospitals, University of Kansas. In 1960, she completed her pediatric residency training at the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn and King’s County Hospital, Downstate University. After completing a 1-year residency in psychiatry at Colorado State Hospital and the University of Colorado Medical Center, Maria traveled with her husband Christos to pursue a postgraduate fellowship in pulmonary physiology in 1962 with the preeminent Paul Swyer at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. After completion of her pulmonary fellowship in 1965, Maria returned to the University of Colorado for a fellowship in Neonatal and Fetal Physiology, working with Lula Lubchenko, Fred Battaglia, and Giacomo Meschia. She was subsequently recruited to work in the physiology laboratory of Robert Foster at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine in 1967 where she was appointed to the faculty as Instructor and ultimately earned the distinction of Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1976 and Professor of Physiology in 1977. In 1996, the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine recognized Maria’s unique abilities to attract academic colleagues from around the world, inviting them to collaborate in the neonatal research laboratory she developed and appointed her Associate Dean for International Medical Programs. Maria’s career spanned over six decades, teaching, helping, investigating, mentoring, and touching the lives of innumerable young trainees, including medical students and residents for whom she was, simply, “Maria.” Maria was an extraordinary woman who demonstrated for the first time that premature neonates with respiratory distress could indeed be mechanically ventilated. She received numerous prestigious awards, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Lifetime Achievement Award, the Virginia Apgar award (in 1997) (Figs. 1 and 2), the Ralph Brenner Endowed Chair in Pediatrics from the St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in recognition of her lifetime dedication to improving the health of children (2006), the Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Lifetime Achievement award (2007), the Trust Fund of the Alumni Association of Women’s Medical College, Phyllis Marciano, M.D., Woman in Medicine Award (2014), and the Mary Kalopothakes Award from the Hellenic Medical Society of New York. She was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Pediatric Society, the American Physiological Society, the Society for Pediatric Research, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Maria was inducted into the Philadelphia Pediatric Society Hall of Fame, and was recognized and honored with the “Legends of Neonatology” Award in 2007 at an inaugural event to establish the Neonatology Hall of Fame (which recognizes outstanding individuals who have contributed to the care of the neonatal patient). She was recognized for her leadership, teaching, and status as a role model for women in medicine. She dedicated her life to “her children” and had a strong commitment to excellence (Fig. 3).

Honoring Professor Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos

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Honoring Professor Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos

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