Dr. Henri Ford, Pediatric Surgeon Extraordinaire
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
It was quite a leap for Haitian-born
Henri Ford who knew no English to attend John Jay High School
in Brooklyn—where
he was called “Frenchie”—and then go on for
his B.A. at Princeton, not to mention moving from there in
record time to Harvard Medical School, but for this Vice President
and Chief of Surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Keck School
of Medicine (USC), affiliated with Children’s Hospital, “leaps” are “challenges.” In
fact, he laughs, recalling a saying of a classmate years ago, “excellence
will silence all your critics.” Considering Dr. Ford’s
considerable reputation as a surgeon and as a heavily funded
and much published researcher in pediatric surgery, his specialty,
it must be pretty quiet out there.
Dr. Ford modestly refers to his
John Jay H.S. days as a time of “difficult transition.” Not knowing English, “the
boy from Haiti,” as he was known, could hardly have expected
a welcoming team, but he wound up getting a fine education.
When he got to Princeton, thanks to a summer language tutor
in high school who urged him on, he recalls how his first year
there was one of “culture shock.” All those fancy
cars—late models, of course—but Henri Ford had
a good line ready – “I parked my bus on the street.” By
the end of the year, he felt entirely comfortable. Indeed,
he says that his undergraduate days were “the four happiest
years” of his life. It was where he met his wife and
where he a pursued a B.A. in public and international affairs,
with a special interest in Latin American politics, graduating
cum laude in 1980 and responding to what he felt was a need
for social change.
But Dr. Ford loves challenge, and
though his college major served him well, he turned to medicine
almost inevitably, though he did toy with going to graduate
school, law school, and the Kennedy School of Government. “I was, in a sense, delivered
to science,” he says, for a number of reasons, including
the fact that an older sister, an inspirational figure, who
also went to JJHS, persisted with her studies, despite the
loss of an eye and multiple surgeries. Then there were mentors,
and sisters married to doctors, but most of all, it was the
surgery rotation of his third-year at medical school that sealed
the choice—he “fell in love with surgery,” and
in particular with helping children. A friend, now the chief
of surgery at Children’s National who “takes credit
for my career!” had spoken glowingly of pediatric surgery.”
Dr. Ford has been at Children’s Hospital for a little
over a year, having left the University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine where he was an attending surgeon, a member of
the faculty, and co-director of the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment
Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Magee-Women’s
Hospital at the University. He also held the Benjamin R. Fisher
Chair in Pediatric Surgery at the School of Medicine. Under
what colleagues called his “exceptional leadership,” pediatric
trauma and pediatric surgical research programs reached enviable
new heights. So why did he leave and go to California? Well,
the population of children in Pittsburgh was shrinking and,
well, “challenge.” Dr. Ford’s work on the “pathogenesis
of necrotizing enterocolitis—the most common and lethal
disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract of newborn infants”—has
led to exciting insights into the diagnosis, treatment, and
pre-natal prevention. Why do some children develop these internal
problems and not others? Is necrotizing enterocolitis genetic
and to what extent? If any, his research lab will get the answer.
Though it may strike some as ironic,
Dr. Ford credits among his achievements being an active voice
on behalf of no surgery, “pushing
the envelope” with traumatologists who work children,
especially those suffering from spleen, liver or kidney disorders,
to explore other treatments because “non-op management” is
less risky. Of course, Dr. Ford sees a lot of young victims
of AIDS and a good part of his life’s work these days
is also taken up with educating parents, especially young mothers
with drug addiction problems, who are more prone than others
to have premature babies. He also addresses parents on how
to protect their children from injury—installing window
gates, ensuring playground safety. He is proud to complete
the circle—inspired by mentors he has become a highly
revered and beloved one himself.#
