Vivien Thomas in the Lab

Vivien Thomas in the Lab

Surgery

One of possibly two known images of Vivien Thomas at Vanderbilt. Thomas came to work for Vanderbilt Medical School with the job title of assistant janitor, but quickly became a skilled surgical technician and brilliant researcher. In 1940, when Johns Hopkins recruited Dr. Alfred Blalock as the new chair of their surgery department, Blalock insisted that Thomas go with him. Several years later, Blalock, Thomas, and Dr. Helen Taussig pioneered at Hopkins the first surgical therapy for blue baby syndrome.

Here Thomas is shown in the experimental surgery lab. Browse related items

circa 1930

Anonymous

Eskind Biomedical Library Special Collections

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