Summary:
- John Clements, a pioneering neonatologist whose research on surfactant therapy transformed the care of premature infants, has passed away at the age of 101.
- Clements' work in the 1950s and 1960s helped establish that a lack of surfactant, a substance that reduces surface tension in the lungs, was the primary cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm babies, a leading cause of infant mortality at the time.
- His findings paved the way for the development of surfactant replacement therapy, which has saved the lives of countless premature infants and is now a standard of care in neonatal intensive care units worldwide.