Tar Heel Footprints in Health Care

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Sam Katz, MD

Sam Katz, MD, has had immeasurable impact on the health of children in North Carolina and across the globe through his lifetime of achievement, his commitment to children, and his ability to be a positive influence on others.

Sam is perhaps most widely known as one of the codevelopers of the measles vaccine. After a stint in the Navy in 1945, during which he attended hospital training school in San Diego, Sam completed his undergraduate degree and 2-year preclinical medical program at Dartmouth. He then completed medical school at Harvard, pediatric training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a subsequent research fellowship. As a young staff member at Boston Children’s Hospital he went to work in the laboratory of John Enders. Together, they developed the attenuated measles virus vaccine, which is estimated to have prevented more than 23.2 million deaths between 2000 and 2018 alone [1]. He went on to help develop or evaluate vaccines for polio, rubella, influenza, and pertussis, as well as Haemophilus influenza type b conjugate vaccines. He also has had a great deal of influence in vaccine policy through his work with the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) and the Vaccine Priorities Study of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), among other vaccine leadership roles. His incredible work to advance the development, delivery, and uptake of vaccination has been recognized by the receipt of many awards, most notably in 2003 when he received the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute.

Sam moved from Boston to Durham, North Carolina, in 1968 to take on the job of chair of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. The department expanded greatly under his leadership, starting with approximately 13 full-time faculty who were mostly generalists and growing to approximately 60 full-time faculty including leading subspecialists in cardiology, endocrinology, allergy/immunology, neonatology, and infectious diseases, among others. Faculty and staff that he brought to the department built world-class specialty clinical care and research programs. In addition, he advanced gender diversity in the department. He led the transition of the department to its current hospital space. He remained as chair for 22 years, stepping down in 1990 to continue his work in vaccinology and pediatric infectious diseases.

While his academic accomplishments are exceptional and only briefly covered in the preceding paragraphs, he is even better known and valued for his approach to people—all people. Sam makes each person, whether they are a patient, student, faculty member, administrator, community member, or housekeeper, feel like they are the most important person in the room when they are talking to him. This skill with people truly sets Sam apart. Why is this important? His confidence in the person in the room with him is infectious. If Sam thinks that you are important, then maybe it’s true! His approach facilitates his patients’ confidence in him as their doctor, his students’ interest in pursuing pediatrics or infectious disease or vaccine research, and his colleagues’ career advancement. This has allowed him to recruit many individuals into pediatrics in North Carolina; many of his recruits are now leaders in academic medicine in North Carolina and throughout the United States.

Sam has received numerous awards, about which he is very modest. If you ask about nominating him for a new award, he always points out someone else he believes to be more deserving. His modesty and selflessness contrast with a career of enormous accomplishment. His work in vaccinology, mentorship, education, and leadership has improved the health of the children of North Carolina and throughout the world.

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