C. J. Lambertsen Papers, 1930-2004

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Summary

Creator:
Lambertsen, Christian James and Lambertsen, Christian James
Abstract:
Christian James (C. J.) Lambertsen (1917-2011) worked as a professor of pharmacology, director of the Institute for Environmental Medicine, and the founding director of the Environmental Biomedical Stress Data Center in 1985 at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine. He designed the Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit (LARU), which was the first widely used, closed-circuit Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) in the United States. Types of materials include correspondence, reports, photographs, audio material, slides, lab books, lab data, experimental measures and procedures, diagrams, graphs, articles, manuscript drafts, grant proposals, newspaper clippings, and notes. Primary subjects include decompression, oxygenation, diving, decompression sickness, diving physiology, and underwater breathing apparatus. Materials range in date from 1930 to 2004.
Extent:
262.50 Linear Feet (167 cartons, 21 flat boxes, 3 card boxes) and 1.89 MB
Language:
English
Collection ID:
UHMS.0007

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains experiment documentation, research notes, scholarly writing, technical reports, publications, correspondence, and artifacts belonging to Christian James Lambertsen, primarily created during his tenure at the University of Pennsylvania. Primary subjects include decompression, oxygenation, diving, decompression sickness, diving physiology, and underwater breathing apparatus. Documentation from the University of Pennsylvania's Environmental Biomedical Stress Data Center and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society are also included. Numerous photographs, slides, films, and audio recordings are part of the collection, many of which need to be reformatted in order to be used. Materials range in date from 1930 to 2004, the bulk of the papers documenting Lambertsen's experiments are between 1970 and 1995.

Biographical / historical:

Christian James (C. J.) Lambertsen was born in Westfield, New Jersey on May 15, 1917. He received a B.S. degree in Biology from Rutgers University in 1939, an M.D. in Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 1943, and an honorary D.Sc. in Medicine from Northwestern University in 1977. His research interests included undersea, atmospheric, aerospace, and industrial environmental physiology, as well as human environmental toxicology and the extremes of human physiologic performance.
In 1940, Lambertsen designed the Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit (LARU), which was the first widely used, closed-circuit Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) in the United States. The LARU was adopted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and used in the latter stages of WWII.
Lambertsen joined the staff of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine in 1946, where he remained for the rest of his life. Primarily a professor of pharmacology, he became the director of the university's Institute for Environmental Medicine in 1968, and the founding director of the Environmental Biomedical Stress Data Center in 1985.
Lambertsen collaborated with numerous government organizations, including the National Research Council, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, the U.S. Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Navy Medical Advisory Panel. He received numerous awards and honors for his work. Lambertsen died on February 11, 2011 in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2012.012 (gift by the University of Pennsylvania, January 2012)
Processing information:

Processed by Amber Covington and Rosemary K. J. Davis: 2012; encoded by Rosemary K. J. Davis and Dawne Howard Lucas: 2012; updated by Kahlee Leingang under the supervision of Lucy Waldrop: May 2018

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Predictive Studies, 1961-2004; Decompression, 1930-2001; Oxygen Toxicity, 1940-2003; Isobaric Counterdiffusion, 1973-2001; Publications, 1944-2004; Breathing Apparatus. 1972-1987; Performance Measurement System (PMS), 1987-1990; Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, 1984-1985; Space and Aviation Medicine, 1991-2002.
Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Duke University Medical Center Archives.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

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Restrictions:

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals or IRB approval may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Duke University assumes no responsibility.
All records pertaining to studies and experiments must be screened for sensitive or confidential materials before being accessed.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], C. J. Lambertsen Papers, Duke University Medical Center Archives.