Paul Kligfield, M.D., will present the first Heberden Society Lecture of the 2009–2010 academic year on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 5 p.m. in Uris Faculty Room (A-126) at 1300 York Ave. The title of the lecture will be "Sudden Cardiac Death in the 18th Century: The Strange Case of Dr. Anonymous." The lecture is open to the public; light refreshments will be served.
In his lecture, Dr. Kligfield will focus on a unique piece of correspondence that was received by William Heberden of London after he published a description of angina pectoris (chest pain due to coronary heart disease) over two centuries ago. The anonymous correspondent, who described in detail his own symptoms of chest pain, offered his body to Heberden for autopsy. It is a strange and fascinating episode within the history of medicine.
Dr. Kligfield, a 1970 graduate of Harvard Medical School, has served at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center as director of the Cardiac Graphics Laboratory since 1977 and as medical director of the Cardiac Health Center since 1995.
He has served as president of the New York Cardiological Society, president of the New York Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, and governor of the American College of Cardiology from metropolitan New York, vice president of the International Society for Computerized Electrocardiology, and a member and past president of the American Osler Society. He has published numerous research papers and editorials, and he serves on the editorial boards of a number of subspecialty journals.
The Heberden Society, which will sponsor Dr. Kligfield's lecture, was established here at the medical center in 1975 as a means for promoting interest in the history of medicine. The society sponsors three lectures during each academic year.