Sarah Stewart (cancer researcher)
Sarah Stewart | |
|---|---|
 Sarah Stewart, MD PhD. | |
| Born | August 16, 1905 |
| Died | November 27, 1976 (aged 71) |
| Citizenship | USA |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University School of Medicine |
| Known for | first describing the Polyomavirus |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | United States Public Health Service |
Dr. Sarah Stewart (August 16, 1905 – November 27, 1976) was a Mexican American researcher who pioneered the field of viral oncology research.
Biography
Early life and education
Sarah Elizabeth Stewart was born on August 16, 1905 in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, Mexico.[1] Born to a Mexican mother and American engineer father, she moved back to the United States at the age of 5.[2] She did her undergraduate work at the New Mexico State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1927. She went on to earn a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1930 and a Ph.D in microbiology from the University of Chicago in 1939. In 1949, she became the first woman to be awarded an MD Degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine.[3]
Career
Stewart joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1935-1944 while completing her PhD at the University of Chicago.[2] She went on to teach microbiology at Georgetown University's School of Medicine, and once women were allowed to enroll, she became their first female graduate at the age of 39.[2][4] Stewart returned to the NIH in 1951, joining the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and eventually becoming medical director.[2]
Stewart developed an interest in researching viral links to cancer in light of the pioneering research of Jonas Salk in developing a vaccine for the virus which caused polio. Stewart is credited with discovering the Polyomavirus in 1953.[3] She and research partner, Dr. Bernice E. Eddy, were successful in growing the virus in 1958 and the SE (Stewart-Eddy) polyoma virus is named after them. Stewart was the first to successfully demonstrate that viruses causing cancer could be spread from animal to animal.[5]
She left the NIH to become professor at Georgetown University in 1971.[4]
Death and afterward
Stewart died of cancer at her home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on November 27, 1976.[6] A collection of her papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.[7]
References
- ^ Cancer Research, Sarah Stewart, Obituary, Volume 37, 4675
- ^ a b c d Fulghieri, Carl; Bloom, Sharon (2014). "Sarah Elizabeth Stewart". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 20 (5): 893–895. doi:10.3201/eid2005.131876. ISSN 1080-6040.
- ^ a b Biography from gwis.org
- ^ a b "Sarah stewart student research lecture series". Georgetown University.
- ^ Stanley, Autumn. Mothers and Daughters of Invention, Page 165. 1993, Rutgers University Press.
- ^ Smith, J. Y. (1976-12-08). "Dr. Sarah Stewart, Cancer Researcher, Dies". The Washington Post. p. C15.
- ^ "Sarah E. Stewart Papers 1927-1977". National Library of Medicine.
- 1905 births
- 1976 deaths
- Cancer researchers
- Georgetown University Medical Center alumni
- Mexican people of American descent
- Mexican emigrants to the United States
- New Mexico State University alumni
- University of Chicago alumni
- University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni
- American virologists
- 20th-century American physicians
- Hispanic and Latino-American people
- 20th-century women scientists
- American women physicians
- Physicians from New Mexico