Patricia Bath
Patricia Bath was a pioneering African American ophthalmologist, inventor, and advocate for vision care, known for her groundbreaking contributions to cataract surgery. Born in Harlem, New York, to a Trinidadian immigrant father and an African American mother with Native American ancestry, Bath's early interest in science blossomed during her education at Charles Evans Hughes High School and later at Hunter College and Howard University Medical School. She became the first African American woman to receive a patent for a medical invention, specifically her innovative Laserphaco probe, which revolutionized cataract surgery by making the procedure faster and safer.
Bath's advocacy extended beyond her inventions; she focused on addressing health disparities in vision care, particularly among African American communities, and founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. Throughout her career, she served in various prestigious positions, including a faculty member at UCLA and chief of ophthalmology in Nigeria. Bath remained dedicated to promoting community ophthalmology and telemedicine until her passing in 2019. Her legacy continues to inspire future generations, highlighting the importance of diversity and innovation in the medical field.
Patricia Bath
- Born: November 4, 1942
- Birthplace: New York City, New York
- Died: May 30, 2019
- Place of death: San Francisco, California
American opthalmologist
A lifelong advocate for the blind, Bath introduced a safe and accurate laser surgery device and method for the removal of cataracts.
Primary field: Medicine and medical technology
Primary invention: Laserphaco probe
Early Life
Patricia Era Bath was born to Rupert and Gladys Bath in the borough of Harlem in New York City, New York. Rupert Bath was an immigrant from Trinidad, British West Indies, and her American mother was the descendant of African slaves and Cherokee American Indians. Her father worked in a variety of jobs; he served as a motorman for the New York City subway, a merchant seaman, and a newspaper columnist. Her mother was a housewife who also worked as a domestic, one of the few positions open for African American women in the 1940s, in order to save money for her children’s education.
Bath was interested in problem solving from childhood. This interest was encouraged at Charles Evans Hughes High School in New York, where she took biology courses that first sparked her interest in the sciences. She excelled in school and earned numerous awards. She applied for a National Science Foundation Scholarship and was chosen in 1959 to work in a summer program for high school students at Yeshiva University. She was also able to work with the university and Harlem Hospital on cancer research. During this time, she worked with Rabbi Moses D. Tendler and Dr. Robert O. Bernard; it was her job to collect and analyze information in an effort to forecast the progression of cancer cells. She coauthored a research report presented at the Fifth Annual International Congress on Nutrition in Washington, DC, on September 2, 1960. That same year, she won a Merit Award from Mademoiselle magazine. Bath completed high school in just two and a half years.
Bath’s higher education began at Hunter College in New York, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1964. She continued her graduate education at Howard University Medical School, graduating with a medical degree in 1968. This was followed by an internship at Harlem Hospital (1968–69), a fellowship at Columbia University (1969–70), and a residency at New York University (1970–73).
Life’s Work
In 1967, while at Howard, Bath traveled to Yugoslavia to study children’s health issues. A year later, she joined the Poor People’s Campaign as they marched in Washington, DC, for economic rights. After graduating from Howard, she studied ophthalmology at Columbia and became an assistant of surgery at hospitals throughout New York. During the following years, she traveled to Africa to serve as chief of ophthalmology at Mercy Hospital in Nigeria. She also worked with the White House Counsel for a National and International Blindness Prevention Program for two years.
Bath became interested in working with the visually impaired while she was at Columbia University. While serving at the Eye Clinic in Harlem, she observed a large number of African Americans suffering from vision problems. In a well-received report, she concluded that African Americans were twice as likely as the general population to suffer from blindness. Moreover, the study showed that African Americans were eight times more likely than whites to suffer from glaucoma-related blindness. Her work prompted her to create the practice of community ophthalmology, in which volunteers visit underserved communities to screen for vision problems.
In 1973, Bath completed her residency in ophthalmology at New York University. That year, she moved to California to join the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Charles R. Drew University. In 1976, she cofounded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness. In 1983, she cofounded and chaired the Ophthalmology Residency Training Program at UCLA-Drew.
One of Bath’s main areas of interest was cataract disease. A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye that can impair vision and sometimes cause blindness. Bath began researching laser surgery as a treatment for vision problems, and her research took her to Germany to study the latest technology. By 1986, she had designed a laser instrument for removing cataracts and successfully tested it. Bath’s laser surgery method was faster, safer, and more accurate than traditional methods of cataract surgery.
Bath was granted US Patent number 4,744,360 on May 17, 1988, for her laserphaco probe, becoming the first African American woman to be awarded a patent for a medical invention. The laserphaco probe works with a concentrated beam of light that breaks up and destroys the cataract. In the following years, she improved the invention and received three more patents: a method for breaking down and removing cataracts (number 5,843,071), in 1998; another laser product used for surgery on cataract lenses (number 5,919,186), in 1999; and an ultrasound method for the breaking and removing of cataracts (number 6,083,192), in 2000. She also received patents in Europe, Japan, and Canada. In 2003 she received a fifth patent for a method combining ultrasound and laser for removing cataracts.
Dr. Bath was a professor emeritus and was nominated to the National Inventors Hall of Fame by the American Intellectual Property Law Association. After retiring from UCLA in 1993 and becoming the first woman elected to the institution's honorary staff, she continued to promote vision care outreach, especially for the underprivileged. In April 2019, Bath took part in a hearing conducted by a Senate Judiciary Committee regarding gender parity in the field of innovation.
Following complications of cancer, Bath died on May 30, 2019, in San Francisco, California, at the age of seventy-six.
Impact
As the first African American woman to receive a patent for a medical device, Bath was a role model for African Americans, women, and other minorities. Her laser cataract surgery method has been used throughout the world, including India, Italy, and Germany. Bath’s advocacy work with organizations such as the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness was groundbreaking. Even after retirement, she maintained a busy schedule, giving speeches to young people, promoting community ophthalmology, and traveling around the world doing surgery. It was her deepest wish to be able to eventually eliminate blindness. She also promoted telemedicine, the use of electronic communications to deliver medical services to remote regions where medical care is limited or unavailable.
Bibliography
Apple, David J. Intraocular Lenses: Evolution, Designs, Complications, and Pathology. Williams and Wilkins, 1989. A technical discussion of the intraocular lens. Important as it relates to Bath’s life work and inventions.
"Dr. Patricia E. Bath." Changing the Face of Medicine, US Library of Medicine, cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography‗26.html. Accessed 22 Nov. 2017.
Genzlinger, Neil. "Dr. Patricia Bath, 76, Who Took On Blindness and Earned a Patent, Dies." The New York Times, 4 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/obituaries/dr-patricia-bath-dead.html. Accessed 1 July 2019.
Henderson, Susan K. African-American Inventors III: Patricia Bath, Philip Emeagwali, Henry Sampson, Valerie Thomas, Peter Tolliver. Capstone Press, 1998. A set of short biographies written for a juvenile audience. Contains photographs, illustrations of the inventions, and copious references.
Pursell, Carroll W., editor. A Hammer in Their Hands: A Documentary History of Technology and the African-American Experience. MIT Press, 2005. A collection of essays about African American achievements from colonial times to the twenty-first century. Though the book does not specifically address Bath, it is an invaluable source.
Sullivan, Otha Richard, and James Haskins. African American Women Scientists and Inventors. Wiley, 2002. A simple, straightforward presentation of African American women who have influenced science and technology. Contains a chapter on Patricia Bath. Written for a juvenile audience.
Young, Jeff C. Inspiring African American Inventors: Nine Extraordinary Lives. Enslow, 2008. A juvenile book about African American scientists and mathematicians.