Dr. Helen M. Ranney, a hematologist who pioneered sickle
cell genetic research in the 1950s, died early this month at 89 years old – one
week short of her 90th birthday.
Ranney's revolutionary research was the earliest link
between heredity and sickle cell anemia. Little was known about genetics and
DNA in the 1950s. Although physicians knew that diseases such as sickle cell
ran in families, doctors didn't have the means to understand if specific
parents could transmit diseases, or if their children would develop them.
What is Sickle Cell
Disease?
Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anemia, is
characterized by an unusual form of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying part of red
blood cells. This condition is called hemoglobin S or HbS. Stressful conditions
cause HbS to distort red blood cells, making them sickle-shaped and preventing
their ability to carry oxygen, which causes them to clog blood vessels.
Ground-Breaking Research
While working on her post doctorate degree, Dr. Helen M.Ranney
developed a method for distinguishing normal hemoglobin from abnormal
hemoglobin found in sickle cell patients. She found that adults carrying the
disease had roughly equal amounts of HbS and normal hemoglobin (HbA).
Ranney used the results from this method to compare
unaffected family members with family members affected by the illness to
provide early evidence that inherited hemoglobin structure was responsible for
sickle cell disease. This method also allowed Ranney to detect the disease in
infants, although children under 6 months do not typically exhibit symptoms as
they produce a different type of hemoglobin that suppresses HbS.
A similar method was used to investigate other blood
disorders, including thalassemia.
Life
Helen M. Ranney was born on a dairy farm in 1920. She
initially went to Barnard
College to pursue law,
but switched to pre-medicine because she enjoyed applying science to human
life. After graduating cum laude from
Barnard, she was rejected from Columbia
University's College
of Physician and Surgeons (P&S)
and instead went to work for New York's Babies Hospital
as a technician.
Ranney re-applied and was accepted to P&S during World
War II. She received her M.D. in 1947 and continued with P&S and the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical
Center, where she was admired for her research and insight. It was here that
she made breakthroughs that brought new light to sickle cell disease.
Helen Ranney continued working with hemoglobin at the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine in New
York City. She was made professor there in 1965, and
also at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
In 1972, Dr. Helen Ranney was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., Medical Achievement Award for her work with hemoglobin. A year later,
she accepted the chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California,
San Diego. That
same year, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
A Woman of Firsts
When she left the University
of California, San Diego (USCD)
in 1991, the school established an endowed chair in her name – the first
endowed chair named for a woman professor in USCD history.
Dr. Helen Ranney also served as the president of the
American Society of Hematology, and was the first woman president of the
Association of American Physicians from 1984 to 1985.
When she retired from the University of California,
she became the first woman to be appointed as a Distinguished Physician of the
Veterans Administration.
In 1991, Dr. Ranney became a board member and consultant to
the Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation in San Diego, where she focused on the medical
uses of fluorocarbons, particularly as oxygen carriers. She also worked to
bring medical care to needy populations living along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Her achievements and contributions to the medical community
will mark her place in history for years to come.
Resources:
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/scimedemail/la-me-helen-ranney-20100501,0,6020210.story
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2010/04/16/helen_ranney_at_89_broke_ground_on_sickle_cell_research/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_260.html
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