Jensen, Julius, Dr., 1898-1982

Julius Jensen was born in Hellerup, Denmark in 1898, the eldest son of Julius and Hanne Jensen. After expressing an early interest in natural science, evolution, and genetics, his father encouraged him to study medicine. He attended medical school at the University of Copenhagen and the London Hospital Medical College, graduating in 1923 with a degree and licensure from the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians of England. From 1923 to 1924, he was junior resident medical officer at the Ministry of Pensions Hospital in Orpington, Kent, England, serving first in cardiology under Sir John Parkinson and later as head of the diabetic service under Dr. H. Woodward. In this position, he was responsible for conducting one of the first clinical trials of insulin, newly licensed as the first effective treatment for diabetes.

In 1924, Jensen immigrated to the United States, working for a year in New Jersey before establishing a private practice in Douglas County, Minnesota. In 1926, he held a teaching fellowship at the University of Minnesota and in 1929 he was granted a Ph.D. in Medicine by reciprocity. Soon after, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and began teaching clinical medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, a position he held until 1946. In 1938, he became a member of the founders group of the American Board of Internal Medicine and published his first monograph, The Heart in Pregnancy. In 1946, he became Chief of Medical Services at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis and professor of graduate education at St. Louis City and County Hospital.

Jensen moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1953 and soon established a private practice in cardiology. He accepted a consulting position at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, becoming the only Las Vegas physician with the ability to read electrocardiograms, and became a visiting lecturer in cardiology at the University of Southern California (USC). In 1963, Jensen retired from active practice and began teaching at USC full-time. During this period he collaborated with Dr. David Blankenhorn on several investigative studies on familial hypercholesterolemia and heart disease.

Julius Jensen retired from teaching and research in 1972 and returned to Las Vegas, where he died in 1982.

Sources:

Julius Jensen Professional Papers, 1630-1974. MS-00640. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Obituaries," Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), November 19, 1982, Volume 248, Number 19.