MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Beatrice Lampkin, M.D.

BIOGRAPHY

Bea Lampkin understands what it's like to be a very sick child. When she was seven, she was stricken with polio. Her father cared for her carefully during the 21 days she was under quarantine at home. Later, she had treatments at Warm Springs, Georgia. After missing only a half–year of school, she returned in a wheelchair. Later she adapted to crutches, which she has used ever since.

Today, she is a role model for physicians, known and respected for her response to adversity, courage to challenge tradition, and dedication to children whose lives have been shattered by disease or adversity.

A lifetime of learning, exemplary achievement and hands–on care connect the child and the physician, making Lampkin more than worthy of being nominated as a Local Legend by Representative Rob Portman – Republican–Ohio–District 2.

Although 'Post–Polio Syndrome' forced her to retire from full–time medical practice in 1991, Lampkin continues her lifetime of care giving as an attending pediatrician and adjunct professor of molecular genetics, biochemistry, and microbiology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her previous positions there include senior research associate, department of pediatrics; assistant professor of pediatrics; associate professor of pediatrics; and professor of pediatrics. She also has served as interim director of Cincinnati Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center – from 1976 to 1978 – and was Jacob G. Schmidlapp Professor of Pediatrics from 1983 to 1995.

"Retirement" hasn't seemed to slow Lampkin very much. In addition to her continuing responsibilities at the College of Medicine, she has helped to establish "Glad House"a program designed to break the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse in the six–through 10–year–old children of homeless mothers addicted to drugs and alcohol. The challenge is similar to caring for childhood cancer patients, Lampkin says. "Both have their heartbreaks and both are hard!"

A past president of The American Society of Hematology—Oncology, she graduated from the Medical College of Alabama and completed her internship at the Medical College of Virginia before becoming a junior resident at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati. She trained in hematology at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, then returned to Cincinnati as an assistant attending pediatrician at Children's Hospital Medical Center and eventually became an attending pediatrician and hematologist—oncologist. She also is a professor emerita of pediatrics, Hematology–Oncology Division, Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Lampkin has received numerous awards and honors, including the naming of the Beatrice C. Lampkin Young Adult Clinic at Children's Hospital Medical Center, given by the American Cancer Society in 1991, induction into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award, presented by Children's Hospital Medical Center. In 2001 she was honored with the Distinguished Career Award of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology—Oncology for 2001.

She is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, American Pediatric Society, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, Central Society for Clinical Research, Cincinnati Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. She has authored or coauthored more than 120 journal articles, more than 30 book chapters and presented nearly 100 abstracts. She also is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pediatric Hematology—Oncology.