Judah Folkman - Early Life

Early Life

Born in 1933 in Cleveland, Ohio, Judah Folkman accompanied his father, a rabbi, on visits to hospital patients. By age seven, he knew he wanted to be a doctor rather than follow in his father's footsteps, so he could offer cures in addition to comfort. His father replied, "In that case, you can be a rabbi-like doctor," words his son took to heart.

Folkman graduated from The Ohio State University in 1953, and then Harvard Medical School in 1957. While still a student at Harvard Medical School, he developed one of the first pacemakers. After his graduation, he did his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he rose to the rank of Chief Resident in Surgery. During this time, Folkman worked on liver cancer and atrio-pacemakers.

Between 1960 and 1962, Folkman served in the United States Navy as a lieutenant, where he studied blood vessel growth at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During his service in the U.S. Navy, Folkman invented an implantable device for timed drug release and donated it patent-free to the World Population Council. It contributed to what is now known as Norplant.

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