Reid, Clarice D. (1931—)
Reid, Clarice D. (1931—)
African-American physician and researcher . Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1931; graduated from the University of Cincinnati Medical School, 1959.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1931, Clarice Reid developed an early concern for the health issues of minorities. The only African-American student in her medical school, Reid studied family medicine and pediatrics, areas which familiarized her with diseases affecting children and families. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati Medical School in Ohio in 1959, and became Cincinnati's first African-American with a private practice in pediatrics.
Reid's interest in sickle-cell anemia, a painful and debilitating blood disease which primarily afflicts people of African descent, took her to Washington, D.C.'s Howard University. There, as deputy director of the Sickle Cell Program of the Health Service Administration, Reid promoted awareness of the disease, instructed health professionals in the care of sickle-cell patients, and developed a national program to reduce the disease's death rate. Reid's work contributed greatly to improvements in sickle-cell sufferers' quality of life and life spans. Reid received the U.S. Public Health Service's highest honor, the Superior Service Award.
sources:
Igus, Toyomi, ed. Great Women in the Struggle. Just Us Books, 1991.
Jacquie Maurice , freelance writer, Calgary, Alberta, Canada