{{short description|American physician (1917–2004)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = William Silverman | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = October 23, 1917 | birth_place = [[Cleveland, Ohio]] | death_date = {{death-date and age|December 16, 2004|October 23, 1917}} | death_place = [[Greenbrae, California]] | citizenship = | field = [[Neonatology]] | work_institutions = [[Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital|Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center]] | spouse = | education = [[University of California, Los Angeles]]<br>[[University of California, San Francisco]] | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | influences = | known_for = [[Evidence-based medicine]] | prizes = [[E. Mead Johnson Award]] <small>(1958)</small> }} '''William Aaron Silverman''' (October 23, 1917 – December 16, 2004) was an American [[physician]] who made important contributions to [[neonatology]]. He held academic positions at [[Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons]] and served as the medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at [[Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital|Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center]]. Silverman urged physicians to address considerations like [[quality of life (healthcare)|quality of care]] in formulating medical treatment plans, especially in the management of premature infants.
==Biography== ===Early life=== Silverman was born in [[Cleveland]] in 1917. In an interview late in his life, Silverman said that his mother had [[rheumatic heart disease]] and that she struggled with her health after he was born, so he was raised mostly by his grandparents. Silverman was also sickly as a child. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1920, hoping that the climate would have beneficial effects on the health of Silverman and his mother. Silverman's mother died of a stroke two years later.<ref name=OHP>{{cite web|title=Oral History Project: William A. Silverman, MD|url=http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Pediatric-History-Center/Documents/Silverman.pdf|publisher=[[American Academy of Pediatrics]]|accessdate=October 16, 2014|archive-date=October 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025115000/http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Pediatric-History-Center/Documents/Silverman.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He completed undergraduate studies at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA). Silverman earned a medical degree from the [[University of California, San Francisco]] (UCSF). He completed a residency at [[Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital|Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center]].<ref name=Bayot/>
===Appointments and service=== Remaining on the staff at Columbia-Presbyterian after his residency, Silverman later became the director of the hospital's [[neonatal intensive care unit]].<ref name=Bayot/> After many years at Columbia-Presbyterian, Silverman moved back to California and directed the neonatal intensive care unit at [[UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital|San Francisco Children's Hospital]]. He also spent time working with children who had been blinded by [[retinopathy of prematurity]], previously known as retrolental fibroplasia.<ref name=BMJ>{{cite journal|last1=Watts|first1=Geoff|title=William Silverman|journal=[[British Medical Journal]]|date=January 29, 2005|volume=330|issue=7485|page=257|doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7485.257|pmc=546086}}</ref>
===Contributions=== In the 1950s, Silverman contributed to the knowledge that retinopathy of prematurity was related to the high concentrations of oxygen administered to premature infants.<ref name=Bayot/> Early in his career, he had conducted a trial that examined the use of [[adrenocorticotropic hormone]] (ACTH) in treating retinopathy of prematurity. Though his research seemed to support ACTH as an effective treatment for the condition, researchers at [[Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine]] disproved this connection. The experience with ACTH made a strong impression on Silverman, who became adamant that strong scientific evidence must guide medical decisions. Epidemiologist [[David Sackett]] said that Silverman was "clearly the pioneer" in [[evidence-based medicine]].<ref name=Lancet>{{cite journal|last1=Oransky|first1=Ivan|title=Obituary: William Silverman|journal=[[The Lancet]]|date=January 8, 2005|volume=365|issue=9454|page=116|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(05)17689-2|pmid=15643704|s2cid=5470371}}</ref>
Emphasizing that physicians must consider [[quality of life (healthcare)|quality of life]] before deciding to pursue new and aggressive treatments in the neonatal intensive care unit, Silverman supported the right of parents to decide that their severely premature babies should not be resuscitated.<ref name=Bayot/> Referring to Silverman's position in medicine in the 1950s, UCSF physician Malcolm Holliday said, "Bill was really regarded as the premier neonatologist of that period."<ref name=Bayot/>
===Later life=== In 2003, the [[American Foundation for the Blind]] awarded its highest honor, the Migel Medal, to Silverman.<ref name=AFB>{{cite web|title=Dr. Sally S. Mangold and Dr. William A. Silverman receive highest honor from the American Foundation for the Blind|url=http://www.afb.org/info/about-us/press-room/press-release-archive/2003-migel-medal-honorees/1245|publisher=[[American Foundation for the Blind]]|accessdate=October 16, 2014|archive-date=October 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013063012/http://www.afb.org/info/about-us/press-room/press-release-archive/2003-migel-medal-honorees/1245|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He died of [[renal failure]] in late 2004. Upon his death, he had been married to Ruth Silverman for 59 years. They had three children.<ref name="Bayot">{{cite news|last1=Bayot|first1=Jennifer|title=William A. Silverman, 87, dies; leading neonatologist of 1950's|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/02/nyregion/02silverman.html?_r=0|accessdate=October 16, 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 2, 2005}}</ref>
===Legacy=== [[Cochrane Collaboration|The Cochrane Collaboration]] awards the Bill Silverman Prize to a researcher who evaluates and improves the presentation, maintenance or dissemination of the collaboration's materials.<ref name=Cochrane>{{cite web|title=The Bill Silverman Prize|url=http://www.cochrane.org/about-us/awards-scholarships-funding-initiatives/annual-prizes-and-awards/bill-silverman-prize|publisher=[[Cochrane Collaboration|The Cochrane Collaboration]]|accessdate=October 16, 2014}}</ref> The [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] honored him in 2006 with the creation of the William A. Silverman Lectureship.<ref name=AAP>{{cite web|title=AAP Awards|url=http://www.pas-meeting.org/awards/AAPSilverman.asp|publisher=[[American Academy of Pediatrics]]|accessdate=October 16, 2014|archive-date=November 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112053936/http://www.pas-meeting.org/awards/AAPSilverman.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Selected publications== *''Dunham's Premature Infants, Third Edition'' (1961)
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Gartner-Pediatric-History-Center/Pages/Special-Collections.aspx William A. Silverman Papers] * [https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/Gartner-Pediatric-History-Center/Pages/Special-Collections.aspx Silverman and Butterfield Infant Incubator Research Collection]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverman, William}} [[Category:1917 births]] [[Category:2004 deaths]] [[Category:American pediatricians]] [[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]] [[Category:University of California, San Francisco alumni]] [[Category:Columbia Medical School faculty]] [[Category:University of California, San Francisco faculty]] [[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in California]]