U.S. National Institutes of Health

Virginia Apgar, MD — diagnostic and therapeutic services (anesthesiology)

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, New York World Telegram & Sun Collection

Dr. Virginia Apgar (1909–1974), the first woman to become a full professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, designed the first standardized method for evaluating the newborn’s transition to life outside the womb—the Apgar Score. Newborn babies still benefit from Dr. Virginia Apgar’s groundbreaking research into the effects of anesthesia during childbirth and advocacy on the prevention of birth defects.

Read more about Dr. Virginia Apgar.

For more information about newborn screening, visit MedlinePlus.

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