John R. Campbell, M.D., Lectureship in Pediatric Surgery


History of John R. Campbell, M.D.

Drs. C. Everett Koop (left) and John Campbell at the inaugural Campbell Lecture in 2008The John R. Campbell, M.D., Lectureship in Pediatric Surgery was established in 2008 as a tribute to an outstanding teacher and the first pediatric surgeon in the state of Oregon. John "Jack" Campbell was born in 1932 in Pratt, Kansas. His father was a general practitioner, and as a child Campbell often spent time with his father on rounds and in the office. That early experience led Campbell to pursue a medical career of his own, receiving his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1958. He then graduated from the University of Kansas Medical Center general surgery residency (1959-63) and went to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (1965-67) to receive his training in pediatric surgery under Dr. C. Everett Koop (pictured right with Dr. Campbell at the inaugural Campbell Lecture). In 1967, Dr. Campbell came to Oregon looking for opportunity and found it as he established Pediatric Surgery at the University of Oregon Medical School. He later served as Acting Chair of the OHSU Department of Surgery (1984-86) and as Vice Chair (1986-95). Campbell was the first Surgeon-in-Chief of the new Doernbecher Children's Hospital, from 1998-1999. He retired from OHSU in 2000.

Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children, circa 1937During his esteemed career, Dr. Campbell played a significant role in establishing Doernbecher as the premier children's hospital in Oregon and achieving its nationwide recognition. Following his arrival in 1967, he found that the concept of a pediatric surgeon was unknown in the Portland medical community. In educating his colleagues in the pediatric surgical worlds, Dr. Campbell continued to push and advocate for better pediatric surgical care for the entire northwest region. His efforts worked to establish Oregon's first neonatal intensive care center in 1968 and he saw the hospital through its transition into a Level 1 trauma center in the 1980's, which dramatically expanded the scope of patient care, both adult and pediatric. Doernbecher Children's Hospital, constructed in 1998Two years before his retirement, in 1998, Dr. Campbell saw the completion of Doernbecher's new state-of-the-art medical complex on Marquam Hill to replace the original children's hospital, which had been constructed in 1926.

As Oregon's first pediatric surgeon and a trailblazer in advanced pediatric healthcare, Dr. Campbell readily emphasizes the importance of exchanging knowledge and teaching the next generation. The annual Campbell Lectureship is an effort to continually bring new ideas and thinking in pediatric surgery to OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

This year's Campbell Lecturer

Marjorie Arca, M.D.Monday, March 4, 2019 | 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. | OHSU Auditorium

"Presentation title TBD"

Marjorie J. Arca, M.D.

Professor of Surgery
Division of Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Clinical Care
Medical College of Wisconsin
Surgical Critical Care Clinical Director
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

Previous Campbell Lecturers

2018 | Anthony D. Sandler, M.D., George Washington University and Joseph E. Robert Jr. Center for Surgical Care | "Neuroblastoma: Tumor Vaccination and Adaptive Immune Resistance"

2017 | Michael P. LaQuaglia, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., F.R.C.S. (Edin.), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | "Pediatric Liver Tumors: Clinical Management and Recent Discoveries"

2016 | Thomas M. Krummel, M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine | "The best way to predict the future...is to invent it!"

2015 | Rebecka L. Meyers, M.D., University of Utah and Primary Children's Medical Center | "COG gets CHIC and goes to PLUTO: What's happening with liver tumors in children"

2014 | Kenneth Azarow, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P., Oregon Health & Science University and Doernbecher Children's Hospital | "Leadership in medicine: Developing the mentor relationship"

2013 | Heinz Rode, M.Med., F.R.C.S., F.C.S., Professor Emeritus, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town, South Africa | "HIV/AIDS and the surgical care of children in Africa"

2012 | Keith Georgeson, M.D., University of Alabama Children's Hospital | "Pioneers, cowboys and desperados: A brief history of the struggle against Hirschsprung disease"

2011 | Jay Grosfeld, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Indiana University School of Medicine | "Long-term outcomes in childhood cancer: the unintended consequences of success" 

2010 | W. Hardy Hendren III, M.D., Harvard Medical School | "John Hunter, 1728-1793, the Father of Scientific Surgery"

2009 | James A. O'Neill, Jr., M.D., J.C., Vanderbilt University | "Is complicated surgery in childhood worthwhile?"

2008 | C. Everett Koop, M.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | "Pediatric surgery: a 62-year perspective from the nation's oldest children's hospital"