Margaret Giannini
{{Short description|American physician (1921–2021)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Margaret Giannini
| image = MargaretGiannini2018.png
| alt = An older white woman with spiky short white hair, wearing bright green drop earrings and an embroidered jacket
| caption = Giannini at an awards event in 2018
| other_names = Peg Giannini
| birth_name = Margaret Joan Giannini
| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|5|27}}
| birth_place = Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|11|22|1921|5|27}}
| death_place = San Diego, California, U.S.
| occupation = Physician, medical researcher, government official
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives = Vittorio Giannini (cousin), Dusolina Giannini (cousin)
}}
Margaret Joan Giannini (May 27, 1921 – November 22, 2021) was an American physician and a specialist in assistive technology and rehabilitation. She was the first director of the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).
Early life and education
Margaret Giannini was born in Camden, New Jersey, the daughter of Francesco (Francis) and Rose Antonia Giordano Giannini. Both of her parents were born in Italy. Composer Vittorio Giannini and his sister, singer Dusolina Giannini, were her older cousins.{{Cite news|date=December 16, 1947|title=Dr. M. J. Giannini Engaged to Marry|page=45|work=The New York Times|via=ProQuest}} She attended Camden High School,{{Cite news|date=1938-04-28|title=Students to Give Musical Comedy|pages=17|work=The Morning Post|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22740156/the-morning-post/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} Boston University and Temple University, and earned her medical degree in 1945 at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital.{{Cite news|date=1948-02-02|title=Dr. Margaret Giannini is Wed to a Physician|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/02/02/archives/dr-margaret-giannini-is-wed-to-a-physician.html|access-date=2021-07-16|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book|last=Hahnemann Medical College|url=http://archive.org/details/medic82hahn|title=Medic : the 1982 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College|date=1982|publisher=[Philadelphia, PA : Hahnemann Medical College]|others=Archives and Special Collections Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center|pages=288}}
Career
= Medical career =
Giannini served her internship at the New York Medical College, where she became a professor of pediatrics, with an early specialty in pediatric oncology. In 1950, after hearing the frustrations of her patients' families, she founded the Mental Retardation Institute, a multidisciplinary clinic to treat people with intellectual disabilities, including classrooms, dental care, and social work services.{{Cite news|last=Fields|first=Sidney|date=1975-09-16|title=Only Human: It's not Hopeless Anymore|pages=36|work=Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81595398/only-human-its-not-hopeless/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} As the center's director, she raised funds, hired specialists, and oversaw research projects. The institute served as a model for research centers funded under Public Law 88–164.{{Cite news|last=Okon|first=May|date=1970-03-15|title=The Children Who Never Grow|pages=371|work=Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81593593/the-children-who-never-growmay-okon/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} The Mental Retardation Institute is now the Westchester Institute for Human Development.Ouellette, Eileen M. "Margaret J. Giannini, MD", Gartner Pediatric History Center Oral History Project (March 8, 2007).
Giannini helped organize and lead the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), and University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service (UCEDD). She was president of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, and the American Association of University Affiliate Programs.{{Cite journal|last=Giannini|first=Margaret|date=1984|title=Transfer of Rehabilitation Research and Development Results into Clinical Practice|url=http://www.oandplibrary.org/cpo/1984_01_001.asp|journal=Clinical Prosthetics & Orthotics|volume=8|pages=1–3}} She was inter-regional advisor to the United Nations on disability and technology.{{Cite book|last=United States Congress Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeTRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1|title=Nomination: Hearing Before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session, on Margaret J. Giannini, of New York, to be Director of the National Institute of Handicapped Research, January 23, 1980|date=1980|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}}
Giannini appeared in medical videos including The Seattle Foot (1980), Audiology (1984),{{Cite book|last1=Giannini|first1=Margaret Joan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11985988|title=Audiology|last2=Spitzer|first2=Jaclyn B|last3=Engebretson|first3=A. Maynard|date=1984|publisher=Veterans Administration|location=Washington, D.C.|language=English|oclc=11985988}} and Environmental Medicine (1985).{{Citation|last1=Louria|first1=Donald B|title=Environmental medicine|date=1985|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12788948|place=Philadelphia, Pa.|publisher=Saunders|language=English|oclc=12788948|access-date=2021-07-16|last2=Burnstein|first2=Walter|last3=Schwartz|first3=Harry|last4=Giannini|first4=Margaret Joan|last5=Kallet|first5=Mary}} She co-wrote a manual, Choosing a Wheelchair System (1990).{{Cite book|last1=Giannini|first1=Margaret Joan|url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/LPS125270|title=Choosing a wheelchair system|last2=Todd|first2=Seldon P|date=1990|publisher=Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Office of Technology Transfer|location=|language=English|oclc=656841558}} She also co-wrote the textbooks Neonatal Neurology (1981){{Cite book|last1=Coleman|first1=Mary|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/981410348|title=Neonatal neurology|last2=Baska|first2=Richard E|last3=Randall|first3=Jno|last4=Giannini|first4=Margaret|date=1981|publisher=University Park|isbn=978-0-8391-1584-7|location=Baltimore|language=English|oclc=981410348}} and Behavioral Neurology in the Elderly (2001).{{Cite book|last1=León-Carrión|first1=José|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46565986|title=Behavioral neurology in the elderly|last2=Giannini|first2=Margaret Joan|date=2001|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-8493-2066-8|location=Boca Raton|language=English|oclc=46565986}} Her scholarly articles appeared in journals including Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,{{Cite journal|last1=Michal-Smith|first1=Harold|last2=Giannini|first2=Margaret J.|last3=Slobody|first3=Lawrence B.|date=July 1957|title=The relationship of the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital Clinic for Mentally Retarded Children to a community-wide program in an urban setting.|url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1111/j.1939-0025.1957.tb05515.x|journal=American Journal of Orthopsychiatry|language=en|volume=27|issue=3|pages=502–507|doi=10.1111/j.1939-0025.1957.tb05515.x|pmid=13444439|issn=1939-0025}} and Cortex.{{Cite journal|date=1971-03-01|title=Interhemispheric Asymmetries of Evoked Cortical Responses in Retarded and Normal Children|journal=Cortex|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|pages=98–105|doi=10.1016/S0010-9452(71)80025-4|issn=0010-9452|doi-access=free|last1=Richlin|first1=Milton|last2=Weisinger|first2=Marvin|last3=Weinstein|first3=Sidney|last4=Giannini|first4=Margaret|last5=Morganstern|first5=Murry|pmid=5567820}} She chaired the editorial board of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.
= Presidential appointments and awards =
Giannini became director of the National Institute of Handicapped Research (now NIDRR) in 1980, appointed by Jimmy Carter. In 1981, she became director of the Veterans Administration's Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, during the Reagan administration; she received a Distinguished Service Award for her "pioneering and innovative efforts in the disability field", presented to her by Harold Russell.{{Cite news|last=DiChristina|first=Mariette|date=1987-07-31|title=Doctor Reaps Honors for Work with Vets|pages=3|work=The Daily Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81595625/doctor-reaps-honors-for-work-with/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} She retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1991.{{Cite journal|last=Burgess|first=Ernest M.|date=1991|title=Editorial: Margaret J. Giannini, M.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzeot0vC1HgC&pg=RA1-PP11|journal=Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development|volume=28|pages=vii|doi=10.1682/JRRD.1991.07.0007|doi-access=free}} In 2001 she became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, appointed by George W. Bush. She became Director of the Office on Disability when the office was launched in 2002.Reynolds, Dave (August 2, 2002). [http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/drn/08_02.shtml "HHS Opens New Office on Disability"] Inclusion Daily Express.
In 1960, Giannini was named Woman of the Year by the American Women's Medical Association.{{Cite news|last=Powderly|first=Patricia|date=1962-06-08|title=It's Busy Life for '60 Woman of the Year|pages=23|work=Democrat and Chronicle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81593351/its-busy-life-for-60-woman-of-the/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} The Seton Hill College Alumnae Association awarded Giannini the Elizabeth Seton Medal in 1983.{{Cite news|date=1983-06-10|title=Alumnae Group Lauds Dr. Giannini|pages=29|work=The Daily Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81596165/alumnae-group-lauds-dr-giannini/|access-date=2021-07-16|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1987, she won the Goldenson Award for Technology from United Cerebral Palsy, and the Everest & Jennings Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America. In 2018, she was the first recipient of the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Advancing Community Living, presented to her by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at an event marking the fortieth anniversary of the NIDILRR (formerly NIDRR).{{Cite web|title=Celebrating 40 Years of NIDILRR|url=https://acl.gov/news-and-events/acl-blog/celebrating-40-years-nidilrr|access-date=2021-07-16|website=ACL Administration for Community Living|language=en}}
Personal life
Giannini married fellow physician Louis Joseph Salerno in New York City in 1948. They had four sons, Salerno died in 1988.{{Cite news|date=1988-06-03|title=Dr. Louis J. Salerno: Pelham Manor Physician|pages=4|work=The Herald Statesman|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/81601099/obituary-for-louis-j-salernos-aged-72/|access-date=2021-07-17|via=Newspapers.com}}
She died at home in San Diego, California on November 22, 2021, at the age of 100.{{cite news |last1=Seelye |first1=Katharine Q. |title=Margaret Giannini, Champion of People With Disabilities, Dies at 100 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/11/health/margaret-giannini-dead.html |access-date=11 December 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=11 December 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Margaret Giannini, address to the White House/VA Conference [https://www.rehab.research.va.gov/whc2004/day1/pan-giannini.html "Emerging Technologies in Support of the New Freedom Initiative: Promoting Opportunities for People with Disabilities"] (October 13–14, 2004)
- [https://www.c-span.org/video/?179592-1/family-caregivers Margaret Giannini speaking on Family Caregivers] at a 2003 town hall meeting, from C-SPAN Video Library
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giannini, Margaret}}
Category:American women centenarians
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:American pediatricians
Category:Boston University alumni
Category:Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:People from Camden, New Jersey
Category:Hahnemann Medical College alumni
Category:New York Medical College faculty