Susan R. Panny
M.D.
MSA SC 3520-14380
Biography:
Dedication to caring for the medical needs of mothers and infants
has
been the foundation of Dr. Susan R. Panny's long career in heath
care. She has been instrumental in the passage of laws in
Maryland that have drastically improved the care administered to both
fetuses
and infants. Dr. Panny has worked tirelessly to advocate for
increased testing and monitoring of newborns in order to have the best
chances of identifying various disorders or diseases, which can improve
chances of treatment and, even, full-recovery.
Dr. Susan R. Panny was born in New York City in 1943. Her
parents
immigrated to the United States from Germany and Austria prior to her
birth. At a young age Susan Panny lived with her maternal
grandparents while Panny's mother was forced to devote her
time to caring for her severely wounded husband, who had just returned
from the war.1
Education was of great importance to the Panny family, and
Susan was strongly encouraged to work hard and develop an appreciation
for learning. Her love of science and medicine was undoubtedly
fostered while attending the Bronx High School of Science in New York
City. A public school, the Bronx High School of Science placed
strong emphasis on natural and life sciences while also enabling
students to take courses in the humanities, foreign languages, and
mathematics. Dr. Panny excelled in her studies and graduated from
the school in 1961. She became the first person in her family to
attend college when she entered Barnard College, the women's college of
Columbia University. The varied and strong educational background
gained at her high school can be seen in the degree she earned for her
undergraduate work: a BA in German Literature and Chemistry.2 After
graduation Dr. Panny married Eaton Lattman, a graduate student in the
biophysics department at The Johns Hopkins University. Desiring
to further her own education, Susan Panny enrolled in the School of
Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. After
earning her MD degree Magna Cum Laude, Susan and Eaton traveled to
Germany to do postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for
Biochemistry.3
Returning
to the United States, Dr. Panny first worked as a pediatric
intern and resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital and then
traveled back to Baltimore. Upon her return to Baltimore, Dr.
Panny was offered the Chief Residency in pediatrics at University
Hospital, which she eagerly accepted. She had decided early on in
her medical career to
focus her work on children, and this position allowed her to expand
upon
that goal. After completing her residency, Dr. Panny was eager
to take on a fellowship in genetics at Johns Hopkins. Through
this position she was able to blend her backgrounds in pediatrics and
genetics which would influence her career path in the future. Her
career choices were hindered, however, due to the pressures placed on
women in the science field. In a Baltimore News-American article
about female doctors, Corinne Hammett wrote,
Susan Panny says she did
not go into surgery--which she 'loved'--for "almost a feminine
reason. I felt, first I was too old (she spent five years prior
to medical school, working
as a techinician so her husband could get
his career training first), and the course of study is very long.
But I also thought
I wouldn't be able to have a
family if I went into
surgery." She chose instead, diagnostic research, genetics which
gives her lab time, teaching duties
and patient care
responsibilities. At 36, she has had her first child, just six
months ago.4
Dr.
Panny undoubtedly faced
difficult choices when it came to both her career and family that
plagued most women that have entered the demanding field of science in
the past and present.
Always
aware of the value of a strong eduation, Dr. Panny chose to pass
along her knowledge to others and enter the teaching field. After
completion of her various residencies and fellowships, Dr. Panny began
teaching at various area universities. From 1981 to the present
she has been a School of Hygiene and Public Health instructor in the
Department of Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
And, from 1984 to the present she has been a clinical assistant
professor in both pediatrics and genetics at the University of
Maryland.5
Dr. Panny serves as
a senior associate in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at
The Johns Hopkins University as well, a fitting position with her
background and current interests. She also has the prestigious
achievement of being Board Certified in both Pediatrics and Genetics.6 In addition, she is a
lifetime member of the Alpha
Chapter of the Delta Omega honorary society of the Bloomberg School of
Hygiene and Public Health at The Johns Hopkins University.
Dr.
Susan Panny has worked actively with the State of Maryland on various
boards and committees to implement changes in health care for mothers
and infants, both in the fetal and newborn stages. She has held
numerous positions, including: member of the State Advisory Council on
Hereditary and Congenital Disorders, 1989-92, and 1994-97; and a member
of the Advisory Council for Program to Identify Hearing Impaired
Infants, 1996-97.7 Currently
she is
the Director of the Office of Hereditary Disorders at the Maryland
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In addition, she is the
Director of the Office for Genetics and Children with Special Care
Needs.8 These positions enable
Dr. Panny to work closely
with families, health care providers, and legislators to enact the best
treatments and laws to serve the needs of patients.
One
of the
most recent issues Dr. Panny has worked tirelessly on deals with the
length of hospital stays for new mothers. By the mid-1990s
hospital stays for new mothers had gone from an average three days to
just one, a result largely due to increasing cost pressures on
hospitals.9 After much debate
and lobbying, the Maryland
legislature became the first to pass the "48-Hour Bill," which would
ensure that mothers and newborns would receive adequate medical care in
the first two days after delivery. Dr. Susan Panny was
instrumental in both the local and national efforts because she
"provided data to the U.S. Congress and assisted in crafting the
national legislation which passed in 1997."10 Another significant cause Dr.
Panny devotes her energies to deals with ensuring that adequate numbers
of tests for newborns are performed to screen for hereditary disorders
and abnormalities. In 2001, Maryland doctors only tested newborns
for eight diseases that could cause mental retardation, deafness or
death. However, there are numerous other diseases that can be
tested for in the first few days of life that would be beneficial to
babies, parents, and doctors. Dr. Panny was part of a group
legislating for an increase of up to thirty more diseases to the
standard test to help "stave off medical crises and boost babies'
chances for a healthy life."11
This has been an especially
significant issue to Dr. Panny because through her career this form of
testing would help children develop and would aid in medical
research. She states, "[Each] state has a duty with respect to
newborn screening--that duty is to assure every baby is offered
screening, every baby is followed up to resolution [diagnosis or no
diagnosis], and every baby with a detected condition is connected to
appropriate treatment."12
By 2003 Maryland had purchased new machines to
perform the expanded screenings and were then going to evaluate the
program and decide which disorders it would screen for in the future
with the new technology. Dr. Panny contends that, although these
tests have become controversial, the real value of earlier detection
can be determined only by comparing children diagnosed at birth with
those whose problem is detected later.13
In the meantime she works with various state
health offices to perform research, provide information to the public,
and help families cope with and understand their children's
disorders.
Dr.
Susan R. Panny's extensive and impressive career in pediatrics and
genetics has drastically improved the lives of mothers and their
newborns. Her work will continue to be of importance to future
generations, and her passion and commitment to lobbying for greater
benefits for these patients will continue to influence those who follow
her.
Endnotes:
1.
Maryland State Archives, Biographical
Series, "Maryland Women's Hall of Fame," accessed 8 July
2005. http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshall/html/panny.html.
return to text
2.
"Scientist Profiles: Susan Roseanne Panny, MD." Center for Craniofacial
Development and Disorders, 2002. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/craniofacial/Scientist/ScientistInfo.cfm?id=28.
return to text
3.
Maryland State Archives, Biographical
Series. return to text
4. Hammett, Corinne F. "Woman M.D.: When Scrubbing
Up Means Surgery, Not Dinner Dishes," Baltimore
News-American, 7 October 1979. return
to text
5.
"Scientist Profiles: Susan Roseanne Panny, MD." Center for Craniofacial
Development and Disorders, 2002. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/craniofacial/Scientist/ScientistInfo.cfm?id=28.
return to text
6.
Maryland State Archives, Biographical
Series. return to text
7.
State
Archives of the State of Maryland, Maryland Manual 1996-97
(Baltimore: United Book Press, 1996). http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000187/html/am187--308.html.
return to text
8. Maryland State Archives, Maryland
Manual On-Line, "Department of Health and Mental Hygiene:
Organizational Structure," accessed 7 July 2005. http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/16dhmh/html/phs.html.
return to text
9. "Bill Would Cover Longer Hospital Stays for
New Mothers," The Capital, 24
April
1995. return to text
10. "Ten Great Public Health Achievements in
the 20th
Century," Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Community
and Public Health Administration, 3 April 2000. http://www.cha.state.md.us/olh/pdf/4616Achieve.pdf.
return to text
11. Bor, Johnathan. "Parents Look to Save 'A
Lot of
Heartache'; State Weighs Adding 30 Diseases to Infant Screening
Program," The Baltimore Sun,
16 February 2001. return to text
12. "Financing State Newborn Screening
Systems in an Era of
Change," Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, March
2005. http://www.astho.org/pubs/newbornscreening(3).pdf.
return to text
13. "Debate Surrounds Screening Newborns for
Genetic
Disorders," Connecticut Post,
19 November 2003. return to text
Biography written by 2005 summer
intern Lauren Morton
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