Carolyn Kaelin
{{short description|American physician}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Carolyn Kaelin
| birth_name = Carolyn Mary Scerbo
| birth_date = {{birth date|1961|4|4}}
| birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|7|28|1961|4|4}}
| death_place = Charlestown, Massachusetts, U.S.
| education = Smith College {{small|(BA)}}
Johns Hopkins University {{small|(MD)}}
Harvard University {{small|(MPH)}}
| workplaces = Brigham and Women's Hospital
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute
| field = Surgical oncology
Breast cancer
}}
Carolyn Kaelin (born Carolyn Mary Scerbo; April 4, 1961 – July 28, 2015) was an American cancer surgeon. She worked at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and founded the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1995.
Early life and education
Carolyn Kaelin was born in Syracuse, New York, to Mary (née Zebrowski) and Richard Scerbo. She was raised in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and graduated from Indian Hills High School in Oakland, New Jersey, in 1979. She studied biochemistry and economics at Smith College.{{cite news|last1=Marquard|first1=Bryan|title=Dr. Carolyn Kaelin, 54; inspiration as surgeon, patient|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/02/carolyn-kaelin-after-her-diagnosis-top-breast-cancer-surgeon-infused-her-work-with-patient-perspective/jZHeBy6wN646308z148lUO/story.html|accessdate=11 August 2015|publisher=The Boston Globe|date=3 August 2015}} She earned her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.{{cite news|last1=Grady|first1=Denise|title=Carolyn Kaelin, Breast Cancer Surgeon, Patient Advocate and Patient, Dies at 54|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/10/us/carolyn-kaelin-breast-cancer-surgeon-dies-at-54.html?_r=1|accessdate=11 August 2015|work=The New York Times|date=9 August 2015}} Kaelin also earned a master's degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.{{cite web|title=Dana-Farber mourns the death of breast surgeon Carolyn Kaelin, MD, MPH, FACS|url=http://www.dana-farber.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/dana-farber-mourns-the-death-of-breast-surgeon-carolyn-kaelin.aspx|website=Dana-Farber Cancer Institute|accessdate=11 August 2015|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706132623/http://www.dana-farber.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/dana-farber-mourns-the-death-of-breast-surgeon-carolyn-kaelin.aspx|url-status=dead}} During her residency, she earned an award for chief resident of the year.
Career
Carolyn Kaelin decided to specialize in breast surgery because it allowed her to know her patients well and provide long-term care unlike other surgical specialties.{{cite news|last1=Dwight|first1=Valle|title=Seeing the Other Side|url=http://saq.smith.edu/i/489763-summer-2007|accessdate=11 August 2015|issue=4|publisher=Smith Alumnae Quarterly|date=Summer 2007|volume=93}} At the age of 34, Kaelin was appointed as a founding director of the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a major Harvard teaching hospital.{{cite news|last1=Phillip|first1=Abby|title=Breast cancer surgeon turned patient, Carolyn Kaelin, dies at 54|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/03/breast-cancer-surgeon-turned-patient-carolyn-kaelin-dies-at-54/|accessdate=11 August 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 August 2015}} In 2001, she was selected as one of Newsweek's 15 Women of the New Century.{{cite news|last1=Newsweek Staff|title=Watch Out|url=http://www.newsweek.com/watch-out-150835|accessdate=11 August 2015|publisher=Newsweek|date=7 January 2001}} Kaelin was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2003. She underwent multiple operations, one of which caused her to lose sensation in her fingers, leading to the end of her surgical career.
Personal life
Carolyn Kaelin met her husband, William Kaelin Jr., while studying at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. They were married in 1988. Kaelin had two children, Kathryn and William (Tripp). Both are graduates of Yale University.{{cite web|last1=Toussaint|first1=Kristin|title=Breast cancer surgeon Dr. Carolyn Kaelin dies at 54|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/08/03/breast-cancer-surgeon-carolyn-kaelin-dies/lo3BAjGOmi8iUV4BCOn7FN/story.html|website=Boston.com|accessdate=11 August 2015}} Carolyn Kaelin was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme in 2010 and died of the tumor at her home in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on July 28, 2015, aged 54.
Bibliography
- Living Through Breast Cancer (2005)
- The Breast Cancer Survivor's Fitness Plan (2007)
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaelin, Carolyn}}
Category:Deaths from brain cancer in the United States
Category:Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts
Category:Indian Hills High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:People from Syracuse, New York
Category:People from Charlestown, Boston
Category:People from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
Category:Physicians from New Jersey
Category:Physicians from New York (state)
Category:Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni