Cornelius P. Rhoads, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Cornelius P. Rhoads

American pathologist and oncologist

Date of Birth: 09-Jun-1898

Place of Birth: Springfield, Massachusetts, United States

Date of Death: 13-Aug-1959

Profession: pathologist, military physician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Gemini


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About Cornelius P. Rhoads

  • Cornelius Packard "Dusty" Rhoads (June 9, 1898 – August 13, 1959) was an American pathologist, oncologist, and hospital administrator.
  • Beginning in 1940, he served as director of Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research in New York, from 1945 was the first director of Sloan-Kettering Institute, and the first director of the combined Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center.
  • For his contributions to cancer research, Rhoads was featured on the cover of the June 27, 1949 issue of Time magazine under the title "Cancer Fighter".During his early years with the Rockefeller Institute in the 1930s, Rhoads specialized in anemia and leukemia, working for six months in Puerto Rico in 1932 as part of the Rockefeller Foundation International Health Board contingent.
  • During World War II, he worked for the United States Army helping to develop chemical weapons and set up research centers.
  • Research on mustard gas led to developments for its use in chemotherapy at Sloan Kettering. In early 1932, a letter Rhoads had written in November 1931, which disparaged Puerto Ricans and claimed he had killed and intentionally injected cancer cells into his patients, was given by a lab assistant to Puerto Rican nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos.
  • He publicized the letter in the Puerto Rican and American media, which led to a scandal, an official investigation, and a US whitewashing campaign to protect Rhoads and, by extension, Rockefeller interests.
  • In the ensuing investigation, Rhoads defended himself, saying he had written his comments in anger and as a joke to a New York colleague.
  • Neither Puerto Rico's Attorney General nor the medical community found evidence of his or the project's giving any inappropriate medical treatment, and the scandal was forgotten.In 2002, the controversy was revived.
  • Alerted to the incident, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), which had established the Cornelius P.
  • Rhoads Memorial Award in 1979, commissioned a new investigation.
  • It was led by Jay Katz, emeritus professor at Yale Law School and a specialist in medical ethics.
  • He concluded there was no evidence of unethical human experimentation, but the letter was so offensive that the prize should be renamed.
  • AACR concurred and stripped the honor from Rhoads because of his racism.

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