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Edward Lambert (1915–July 27, 2003) was an American neurophysiologist, best known for his description of the Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome and regarded as one of the founders of electromyography.

Early life and education

Dr. Edward Howard Lambert was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota; his mother was a second generation Norwegian and his father was Finnish-Scottish from Montana. During the Depression the family moved to Chicago. He was always interested in biology as a youth. After two years at Morton Junior College he received BS, MS, MD and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois. After an internship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, he obtained a PhD in physiology studying the effects of oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations on blood pressure and the vasomotor system.

Medical career

Lambert's initial interest was in the physiological problems associated with aviation. Spanning World War II, he spent a total of 10 years in this area, particularly the effects of g-force on pilots. In 1943 he joined a top secret research lab at the Mayo Clinic investigating the physiologic effects high g-forces causing blackout and unconsciousness. To be able to study its effects, they built the first human centrifugal machine in the country. The reseach team doctors, risking their own personal safety and fitted with gradually improving g-suits, spun in the centrifuge. Lambert, described as a principle investigator and a key member of the team, was a human guinea pig in these studies, with repeated episodes of loss of consiousness. Dr. Earl Wood, director of the lab, noted that Lambert had the most time of any of the team in the machine. The suits gradually improved, but the pilots were at skeptical of the first Mayo Clinic g-suits. Lambert was assigned as director of the real world experimental program to convince the pilots of the suit's value. Again, as a human guinea pig, he went up many times in a Douglas Dauntless dive bomber with an Army pilot, flying in spirals over Rochester, Minnesota, to determine if g-suits were effective. Without a suit he had further episodes of unconsciousness, while the suited pilot was unaffected. This suit was worn by US pilots towards the end of the World War II, and the pilots found it to be quite effective. For his contribution to the war effort he received the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1946.

In 1947, still at the Mayo Clinic, Lambert founded the first electromyography lab in the United States and, soon after, the first EMG training program. His research began in 1948, with the application of EMG to myasthenia gravis. In 1956, he and colleague Lee Eaton were the first to describe the clinical and EMG characteristics of the disease now known as Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome. This was the first pre-synaptic disease found, differentiating it from myasthenia gravis. With over 280 publications, his contributions spanned the field of peripheral neurology. His early studies establish EMG as a basic neurological tool. With Dr. Peter Dyck he defined many forms of neuropathy and with Dr. Andrew Engel he did the same for myopathies. With his wife Dr. Vanda Lennon, he helped define the immnunogenesis of myasthenia gravis. Lambert mentored generations of EMG fellows, many of whom became leaders in the field of peripheral neurology. He had a mandatory retirement from the Mayo at age 70, but continued doing reseach and projects until age 83. He is fequently regarded as the father of EMG.

Honors

• Presidential Certificate of Merit, 1956
• American Association of Electromyography & Electrodiagnosis Lifetime Achievement Award, 1995

Personal

Lambert was married to Dr Vanda Lennon form 1975 until his death in 2003. They met when he flew to the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, to advise her on a research project. They married 14 months later, and in 1978 she relocated to the Mayo Clinic. They had 57 collaborative publications.