Samuel Kaplan, 1922–2004

Director of Cardiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: 1954–1988

Dr Samuel Kaplan graduated from the University of Witswatersrand School of Medicine in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1944 and completed his residency in internal medicine before being awarded a scholarship to continue his postgraduate training in cardiology at Hammer-smith Hospital in London in 1949. In 1950, he came to Cincinnati as a fellow in cardiology at the Cincinnati General Hospital. In 1954, Dr Kaplan founded the Division of Cardiology at The Children's Hospital. As chief of the division, Dr Kaplan was among the first in the world to establish the discipline of pediatric cardiology, and is considered among the founders of the specialty. Under his direction, Cincinnati Children's Hospital became a national and international referral center for the management of children with congenital cardiac defects, as well as a coveted place to train.

Dr Kaplan accepted his first fellow for training in 1955. He directed a superb clinical and laboratory training program in which each fellow was encouraged, nurtured and mentored to enter a career as an academician. During the early 1950s, Dr Kaplan, in conjunction with Leland Clark, developed a membrane oxygenator that was, and still is, an essential part of the heart-lung machine. Clinical application of this invention was implemented by surgeon James Helmsworth, in collaboration with Dr Kaplan and his wife Molly, who worked side by side with Dr Kaplan in the laboratory.

During the 1960s and 1970s, there was significant growth in both the clinical and cardiovascular surgical programs at Children's Hospital under Dr Kaplan's leadership. The fellowship program flourished, as did the development of echocardiography, graded exercise physiology, nuclear cardiology, and preventive cardiology and epidemiology. Between 1955 and his departure in 1988, Dr Kaplan trained 68 physicians in pediatric cardiology, including many visitors from here and abroad, many of whom now hold academic positions in medical schools, including directors of divisions and chairmen of pediatric departments. Under his tutelage and guidance, the fellows were extremely productive, publishing in numerous peer reviewed journals. At the time of his retirement from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, he was widely recognized as among the top five most constructive and productive academic cardiology leaders in the United States of America. In 1982, the Division established a biennial Kaplan Cardiology Society Lecture Series to serve as a tribute to his mentorship, outstanding service, support, guidance, inspiration, kindness and caring attitude toward his fellows. This series continues today as the Samuel Kaplan Lectureship.

Following his departure from Cincinnati, Dr Kaplan joined the Division of Cardiology at University of California at Los Angeles in 1988, where he served as the director of the fellowship program, and continued his most important role as a mentor, mentoring some 30 fellows. Whilst at Los Angeles, he was funded by the National Institutes of Health as the principal investigator of a multicentric $9 million grant to study the effects of human immunodeficiency virus on the heart and lungs of infants whose mothers were infected. This work alone has resulted in more than 30 publications, identifying the complications, appropriate treatment, and follow-up of these infants and children.

As a result of Dr Kaplan's superb clinical expertise and research experience, he has received numerous awards. The State Department of the United States of America invited him to share his knowledge by lecturing in several countries. He was awarded the Susan and Theodore Cummings Humanitarian Award from the American College of Cardiology, the Founders Award from the Cincinnati Pediatric Society, the Founders Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Visionary Award from the Southwestern Ohio American Heart Association. The Kaplan Visionary Award has been presented annually in his honor since 1989. Finally, the Samuel and Molly Kaplan Chair in Cardiology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital was established.

The impact of Dr Kaplan's career in pediatric cardiology will forever be felt. He was a revered figure in pediatrics and pediatric cardiology. Not only was he an extraordinary individual, who gave selflessly to his patients, students and colleagues, but a visionary whose quiet demeanor and approach were unparalleled, and responsible for the many success in all areas of his career. His humor, wit and love of life were recognized the world over, and his marvelous influence shaped the lives and careers of all of us who were fortunate to have known him. He will be greatly missed, and remembered often.