Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Tribute
  • Published:

Phil Sunshine: Apgar award recipient

Journal of Perinatology volume 31, pages S2–S5 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

While still an Instructor in Pediatrics, he was appointed as Assistant Director of the Clinical Research Center for Premature Infants in 1963, one of the first General Clinical Research Centers dedicated to the study of newborns. By 1967, he was not only the Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center but also Chief of Neonatology in the Department of Pediatrics. He had risen to the rank of Professor of Pediatrics by 1973 and was appointed the second holder of the Harold K Faber Endowed Professorship of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1980, holding that Chair until 1989 when he departed to become Chief of the Department of Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and Vice Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine between 1989 and 1993. He returned to Stanford in 1993, rejoining the Department of Pediatrics and the renamed Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine.

To understand Phil Sunshine, it is important to have spoken with Molly Sunshine, his mother. Phil was born on 16 June 1930. Molly described Phil as having been a precocious child, surprising his mother with apparent memorization of many of the Mother Goose nursery rhymes even before he could speak. This talent was an early example of Phil's later impressive ability to internalize vast amounts of scientific information, but even more vast amounts of quotes, jokes and stories. During his early years, it became clear that Phil was indeed a quick learner and a very fine student. However, he asked his mother not to tell any of his friends what he got in school and, if they did ask, to tell them that he got Cs and Ds because he did not want them to dislike him. His report cards, of course, were nearly always perfect. This anecdote reflects another attribute of Phil, which is his incredible humility and sensitivity toward others. Friends have always meant everything to Phil Sunshine.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

References

  1. Sunshine P, Kretchmer N . Studies of small intestine during development. III. Infantile diarrhea associated with intolerance to disaccharides. Pediatrics 1964; 34: 38–50.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sunshine P, Kretchmer N . Intestinal disaccharidases: absence in two species of sea lions. Science 1964; 144: 850–851.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Koldovsky O, Sunshine P, Kretchmer N . Cellular migration of intestinal epithelia in suckling and weaned rats. Nature 1966; 212: 1389–1390.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sunshine P, Kusumoto H, Kriss JP . Survival time of circulating long-acting thyroid stimulator in neonatal thyrotoxicosis: implications for diagnosis and therapy of the disorder. Pediatrics 1965; 36: 869–876.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Thomas DV, Fletcher G, Sunshine P, Schafer IA, Klaus MH . Prolonged respirator use in pulmonary insufficiency of newborn. JAMA 1965; 193: 183–190.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Daily WJ, Meyer HB, Sunshine P, Smith PC . Mechanical ventilation of newborn infants. 3. Historical comments and development of a scoring system for selection of infants. Anesthesiology 1971; 34: 119–126.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Johnson JD, Malachowski NC, Grobstein R, Welsh D, Daily WJ, Sunshine P . Prognosis of children surviving with the aid of mechanical ventilation in the newborn period. J Pediatr 1974; 84: 272–276.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Miller MJ, Sunshine PJ, Remington JS . Quantitation of cord serum IgM and IgA as a screening procedure to detect congenital infection: results in 5,006 infants. J Pediatr 1969; 75: 1287–1291.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    D K Stevenson

Authors
  1. D K Stevenson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D K Stevenson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Adapted from the Perinatal Section News story on Phil Sunshine receiving the Apgar Award, August 2001 and the Virginia Apgar Award Presentation to Phil Sunshine on Sunday 21 October 2001.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stevenson, D. Phil Sunshine: Apgar award recipient. J Perinatol 31 (Suppl 1), S2–S5 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2010.171

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2010.171

Search

Advanced search

Quick links