Blackfan was born on September 9, 1883, in Cambridge, New York. He began his medical studies at the
Albany Medical College, graduating at the age of only 22. Initially, he returned home to join his father in general practice. He became bored with this, however, and four years later in 1909 he returned to Albany seeking fresh challenges. Encouraged by
Richard Pearse, he decided to do some pediatric training in the
Founding Hospital in Philadelphia. He did a residency under
John Howland starting in 1911 at
Washington University in St. Louis, and in 1913 Blackfan followed Howland to
Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Here he worked with
Walter Dandy (described of the
Dandy–Walker syndrome) on internal
hydrocephalus. Walker and Blackfan discovered where
cerebrospinal fluid originated by tracking dye injected into the
cerebral ventricle of a dog. Blackfan eventually became an associate professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1918, then moved to
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and finally to
Harvard University where he became director of clinical services at
Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics. He occupied this position until his death in 1941. At Harvard, his main interests were
nutrition and
hematology. He was
Louis K. Diamond’s mentor, and together they wrote the first collection of photographs of microscopic appearances of the Blood in Childhood disease. In 1938, they described
Diamond–Blackfan syndrome. He also mentored
Sidney Farber, the father of
modern cancer chemotherapy, after whom is named the
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Blackfan died of lung cancer in 1941 at the height of his career. Boston Children's Hospital is in front of Blackfan Circle which is named after Blackfan. == References ==