Henry D. Chadwick Medal

The Henry D. Chadwick Medal is the highest honor awarded by the Massachusetts Thoracic Society for meritorious contributions in the study and treatment of tuberculosis and other thoracic diseases. Candidates do not have to be physicians, but their major professional activities, whether of local or international acclaim, should have been in Massachusetts.

The first Chadwick medal was given to Dr. Chadwick in 1964, when he was 90 years old, in recognition of his contributions in the study and treatment of tuberculosis.

Henry D. Chadwick was born in Bocowan, New Hampshire and grew up working on the family farm. From an early age, he was inspired by the family doctor to pursue a career in medicine. After completing grade school, he worked in pharmacies, apprenticed himself to physicians in Concord and Boston, and received private tutoring in order to prepare for the medical school entrance exams. Chadwick entered Harvard Medical School in 1891, becoming one of the last students to enter medical school without attending college, and graduated cum laude in 1895. Upon graduation, Dr. Chadwick began practicing medicine in Waltham. In 1898, Dr. Chadwick became a member of the Waltham Board of Health, and thus began his career in official public health administration. That same year, he was called into active military service as a contract surgeon in the Spanish-American War. Dr. Chadwick developed tuberculosis and spent 18 months recovering at the Trudeau Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, NY. After his recovery, he decided to retire from general practice and focus on administrative medicine in public health and particularly in the field of tuberculosis, beginning as the first superintendent of a sanatorium in Pittsford, VT. From 1909-1929, Dr. Chadwick supervised the construction of a state sanatorium in Westfield, Massachusetts and stayed on as superintendent. It was during his time in Westfield that Dr. Chadwick made some of his most important contributions in the field of juvenile tuberculosis. He established what became known as the Chadwick Clinics, a program that examined public school students for evidence of early tuberculosis from 1924-1934. Dr. Chadwick, along with Dr. Alton Pope, stressed the use of the tuberculin test, also known as the von Pirquet test, as the most practical method for detecting infection, with or without clinical symptoms of disease. Through the Chadwick Clinics, the tuberculin test would be administered, and children who had a positive reaction would be x-rayed. Children with an unusual x-ray result would have a physical examination for a final diagnosis, and nutrition workers would meet with parents to discuss the child’s needs for food, rest, and other health habits to ensure a complete recovery. Doctors would follow up with children with suspected and confirmed infection annually for follow-up examinations and x-rays. This 10-year study, which included over 400,000 Massachusetts school children, also helped establish the baseline of childhood tuberculosis infection that other studies could use as comparison. Dr. Chadwick had a long and illustrious career in public health. He served as the Comptroller of Tuberculosis in Detroit, State Commissioner of Public Health in Massachusetts, President of the Waltham Training School for Nurses for 15 years, the Board of the Channing Home for Tuberculosis, President of 3 Massachusetts-based tuberculosis associations (Hampden County, Newton, and Cambridge), President of 2 constituent state associations (Michigan, Massachusetts), President of the American Sanatorium Association (now known as the American Thoracic Society) and President of the National Tuberculosis Association. Academically, he was a lecturer at the University of Michigan, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, and President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Tuberculosis and Health League. Sources: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM193007242030407 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2441058/ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chadwick-1066 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1529719/pdf/amjphnation01001-0044.pdf

2024 Chadwick Medal Recipient

The Massachusetts Thoracic Society is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Henry D. Chadwick Medal, to be awarded at the 77th Annual Meeting on April 4, 2024.

Robert Brown, MD

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Clinician, Investigator, and Educator

Chadwick Medal Recipients
1964-Present

2023

Harrison W. Farber, MD

Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist, Clinician and Investigator

B. Taylor Thompson, MD

Pulmonary/Critical Care Clinician, Investigator, Educator, Specialist in Clinical Trials

2018

Carla R. Lamb, MD

Pulmonary/Critical Care Clinician, Research, Educator, Specialist in Interventional Pulmonology

2015

Dennis J. Beer, MD

Intensivist, Pulmonary Diagnostician, Educator

2012

Sue C. Etkind, RN, MS

Nurse, Public Health Professional, TB Control Expert

2009

Raymond L.H. Murphy, Jr., MD

Clinician, Professor, Research in lung sounds, Co-founder International Lung Sounds Association

2006

John Bernardo, MD

Clinician, Researcher, Expert in TB management, including the homeless population

Edward A. Nardell, MD

Clinician, Teacher, Expert in TB control

2003

Bartolome R. Celli, MD

Clinician, Teacher, Researcher, Physiologist, Pulmonary Rehab Specialist

2000

Jeffrey M. Drazen, MD

Clinician, Scientist, teacher; asthma genetics; treatment, physiology

1996

Hermes C. Grillo, MD

Thoracic surgeon; new procedures for tracheal resection and reconstruction surgery, teacher and clinician

1992

Joseph D. Brain, Sc.D

Teacher, researcher in pulmonary physiology and lung cell biology

1989

Denise J. Strieder, MD

Pediatric Pulmonary Clinician; Researcher & Teacher

1986

Richard H. Overholt, MD

Thoracic Surgeon; Pioneer Crusader against cigarette smoking

1982

Joan M. Tourigney, RN, RRT (posthumously)

Respiratory Therapist, Nurse Specialist

1979

Harriet L. Hardy, MD

Occupational Disease Reseacher: berylliosis, "Black Lung"

James L. Whittenberger, MD

Physiology Professor: Mechanics, Air Pollution

1975

Jeremiah Mead, MD

Physiology Researcher: Respiratory mechanics

Donald A. Martin, MD

Phthisiotherapist & Sanatorium Administrator

1970

Edward Gaensler, MD

Thoracic Surgeon, Physiologist Researcher Interstitial Lung Disease, Asbestosis

Edward Welch, MD

Internist, Pulmonologist

1964

Henry D. Chadwick, MD

Tuberculosis Specialist, Sanatorium Administrator, and Health Commissioner

2021

Leonard Sicilian, MD

Pulmonary Clinician and Educator, ICU Director, Cystic Fibrosis Specialist

2017

David J. Kanarek, MD

Pulmonary/Critical Care Clinician, Researcher, Educator, Mentor

2014

Jeffrey S. Berman, MD

Pulmonologist, Educator and Mentor

2011

Dean R. Hess, PhD, RRT

Respiratory Therapist, Teacher, Mentor

2008

David Michael Center, MD

Clinician, Teacher, Research in Pulmonary Immunology

2005

Nicholas S. Hill, MD

Scientist, Teacher, Researcher - Pulmonary Vascular Biology, Clinical Pulmonary Hypertension, and Non-Invasive Mechanical Ventilation

2002

John F. Beamis, Jr., MD

Interventional Pulmonologist, Clinician, Teacher

1999

L. Jack Faling, MD

Clinician, Teacher, Administrator, Mentor and role model

1995

Mary Ellen Wohl, MD

Pediatric Pulmonologist, physiology researcher in lung development, new therapies for cystic fibrosis, teacher and administrator

1991

Dwight E. Harkin, MD

Cardiac & Thoracic Surgeon; TB Treatment, Anti-Smoking Activist

1988

Homayoun Kazemi, MD

Physiology Reseacher: Control of Breathing Pulmonary Clinician & Teacher

1985

Howard G. Turner, Jr., MD

Tuberculosis Specialist, Teacher

Henning Pontoppidan, MD

Anesthesiologist; Pioneer in Respiratory Therapy and Chest Physical Therapy

1981

Mary Ellen Avery, MD

Pediatric Intensivist, Researcher, Teacher & Administrator

1978

John H. Emerson, MD

Inventor: Iron Lung, O2 Tent, IPPB

1974

John W. Strieder, MD

Thoracic Surgeon, Teacher

1966

Paul DeFault, MD

Phthisiotherapeutist & Sanatorium Administrator

2019

Helen M. Hollingsworth, MD

Pulmonary/Critical Care Clinician, Clinician Educator, Researcher, Editor

2016

Christopher H. Fanta, MD

Pulmonologist, Professor, Asthma Specialist

2013

David J. Sugarbaker, MD

Thoracic Surgeon, Mesothelioma Expert

2010

Ronald C. Silvestri, MD

Clinician, teacher, role model for pulmonary trainees

2007

Richard S. Irwin, MD

Clinician, Teacher, Researcher - Etiology and Management of Cough

2004

Jeffrey J. Fredberg, PhD

Teacher, Researcher - Airway Biology/ Physiology, Asthma

2001

Barry L. Fanburg, MD

Teacher, Researcher, Clinician; Sarcoidosis; Diagnosis and Therapy

Melvin W. First, Sc.D

Teacher, Researcher: Air Quality, Industrial Hygiene and Therapy

1997

Frank E. Speizer, MD

Authority on the epidemiology of asthma and COPD: Researcher, Trainer

1994

Jerome S. Brody, MD

Clinician-scientist in pulmonology; researcher in lung development and cell differentiation

Blake Cady, MD

Anti-smoking Activist; Researcher & Surgeon In oncology

1990

Earle B. Weiss, MD

Administrator, Teacher; Scientist Clinical & Laboratory

1987

Gustave A. Laurenzi, MD

Pulmonary Internist; Teacher & Raconteur

1983

Mary K. Steinkrauss, RN (posthumously)

Massachusetts TB Program, Nurse Specialist

Lynne Reid, MD

Pathologist, Researcher: Bronchitis, Emphysema, and Pulmonary Hypertension

1980

Gordon L. Snider, MD

Pulmonary Clinician, Teacher & Researcher: Respiratory Therapy, Emphysema

1976

Harry Shwachman, MD

Pediatrics Professor, Cystic Fibrosis Pioneer

1972

Theodore L. Badger, MD

Internist, Pulmonlogist, Tuberculosis Therapy, Teacher

1965

Cleaveland Floyd, MD

Phthisiologist: Therapeutic Pneumothorax

Massachusetts Thoracic Society