Isaac González Martínez
Dr. Isaac González Martínez | |
---|---|
Born | July 8, 1871 Urologist |
Spouse | María Luisa Blanes Mangual (1879-1970) |
Children | Alicia González Blanes, Héctor González Blanes and Georgina González Blanes |
Notes | |
González Martínez is Puerto Rico's first Oncologist |
Dr. Isaac González Martínez
Early years
González Martínez was born in a coffee plantation in the town of
González Martínez returned to Puerto Rico in 1900 and set up his medical practice in Mayaguez. He was named Director of the Laboratories of the Department of Health and also the head of the sanitation department in that city.[3]
Anemia Commission
González Martínez was interested in parasitology, a new medical concept in the island, and worked with Dr.
Discovery of Intestinal Bilharzias
In 1904, González Martínez discovered that the
Bubonic plague
The
He returned to Puerto Rico after conducting his investigations and in 1912, detected a Bubonic plague epidemic in the island. He separated the patients who had the infection from those who did not, and applied the proper treatments. Due to his actions, within 90 days, the epidemic was brought under control.[3]
School of Tropical Medicine
In 1912 González Martínez, together with Drs. Ashford, Pedro Gutiérrez Igaravides and Walter King, founded the School of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Ashford assumed a full-time faculty position at the school of medicine and continued his interest in tropical medicine. The building of the Institute of Tropical Medicine is located at the University of Puerto Rico campus at Rio Piedras,[5] and Dr. Ashford was the first to describe and successfully treat North American hookworm in 1899.[6]
González Martínez founded "Anales de Medicina de Puerto Rico", a scientific journal. He was elected president of the Medical Academy of Puerto Rico in 1917. In 1919, he published a chapter on his findings of the Intestinal Bilharzias in the book La Práctica de la Medicina en el Trópico.[2]
In 1920, González Martínez went to
Puerto Rican League against Cancer
González Martínez became interested in studying the causes and treatment of cancer. In 1827, he traveled once more to Paris and enrolled in the Paris Institute of Cancer. He returned to Puerto Rico and in May 1938, González Martínez founded the Puerto Rican League against Cancer and established a clinic to treat patients with the disease in Santurce. He offered his services and treated patients free of charge. That same year he published a scientific article in the permanent cure and treatment of cervical Uterine cancer. The construction of the first ontological hospital began in 1953 at the Centro Medico de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico's Medical Center).[3]
Legacy
On September 22, 1950, the Puerto Rican Chapter of the American Cancer Society recognized González Martínez as Puerto Rico's first Oncologist.[2]
On April 20, 1954, González Martínez died in his home, in the same year he was to be honored with an Honorary Doctorate degree from the first graduating class of the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, he was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The oncological hospital at the Centro Medico de Puerto Rico was named after him, as the Hospital Oncologico Dr. Isaac González Martínez.[3][7] Several public schools in different levels, called Isaac González Martínez, are also named after him.[8]
See also
- Dr. Ramón M. Suárez Calderon
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
Notes
- Spanish name, the first or paternal surnameis González and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.
References
- ^ Isaac González Martínez, Retrieved October 4, 2008
- ^ a b c d "Fundador - Biografía del Doctor Isaac González Martínez". Archived from the original on 2011-09-06. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Galenus - Hospitales; Dr. Isaac González Martínez, investigador, epidemiólogo y radioterapeuta
- ^ "Plague, Overview". Health Topics A to Z. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
- ^ "Old School of Tropical Medicine". Archived from the original on 2004-12-25. Retrieved 2004-11-26.
- ^ School of Tropical Medicine of Puerto Rico
- ^ "Hospital Oncologico Dr. Isaac Gonzalez Martinez". Archived from the original on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
- ^ Escuela Isaac Gonzalez Martinez