James A. Shannon and the beginnings of the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism of the National Institutes of Health

Abstract

James A. Shannon and the beginning of the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism of the National Institutes of Health. This is a historical review of the beginnings of the intramural research program of the National Heart Institute (NHI), now the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), with particular emphasis on the organization's Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism and the persona of the program's founder, Dr. James A. Shannon. The narrative is anecdotal, intended to evoke the atmosphere that prevailed as an old-line public health agency transformed itself into the modern National Institutes of Health. The article is based entirely on the personal recollections of the author, an early recruit. It details the period from 1949 to 1953, and more sketchily the subsequent seven years. Additionally, it provides the author's perceptions of the style, modus operandi, and personality of Dr. Shannon in the years before he assumed the directorship of the NIH in 1955.