Celebrating Dr. Beatrice Lampkin
Dr. Beatrice C. Lampkin grew up in Alabama and was stricken with Polio in 1940. Her grandfather, a doctor, inspired her to become a physician and in 1960 she completed her M.D. at the Medical College of Alabama.
She came to Cincinnati Children’s in 1963 as a resident and returned in 1965 after doing a fellowship in Los Angeles. In 1973 Dr. Lampkin became the first female director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics and the first female director of a hematology/oncology division in the country.
At the time, she was the only pediatric hematologist/oncologist in Cincinnati and cared for 173 children.
Eighteen years later, the division had 13 full-time faculty members, six fellows, four specialty centers and two specialty clinics with the capacity to care for 1,500 children per year. During this time, the Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Long Term Survivors Clinic and the School Reentry Program were started.
In 1978, Dr. Lampkin recognized a need for parents and families to have affordable housing while their children were treated at Children’s Hospital. She was involved with the planning and fundraising efforts to open the Children’s Family House. This led to a very successful campaign that raised $1.3 million and the opening of the House to families in 1982. Today it is known as the Ronald McDonald House and provides a convenient home to families of seriously ill children.
In conjunction with the Mission and Outreach Committee of Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church, Dr. Lampkin, along with others, founded the Giving Life a Dream (GLAD) House. The purpose of the house is to improve the lives of children ages 5 to 18 and their families by breaking the cycle of addiction and promoting mental health.
In 2012 she was honored as a Great Living Cincinnatian by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber along with Nick Clooney, James M. Zimmerman and Robert H. Castellini.
Dr. Lampkin was devoted to fighting Leukemia, a cancer that greatly affected children aged 3 to 14. She retired in 1991.
Article written by Next Step Collaborative
