Celebrating pioneers in science and medicine this Black History Month

Happy Black History Month! At JCVI, we believe in the importance of celebrating scientific trailblazers, particularly those who made groundbreaking advancements all while overcoming overt racism. Here, we have highlighted the stories and achievements of some of the most accomplished Black scientists, engineers, physicians and inventors who have made significant contributions to society and humanity, and have been pivotal in amplifying the voices of the underrepresented in their fields. Stay tuned to learn about more great minds throughout the month.

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon who came from a family with a strong history of academic achievement in medicine. Her father was the first Black graduate of Harvard Medical School, first Black doctor appointed to a staff position at a municipal hospital in New York City, first Black police surgeon, and the founder of the Cancer Research Center at Harlem Hospital. Dr. Wright would later join her father at the Cancer Research Center where they began research on potential chemotherapeutic agents, performing patient trials on lymphomas and other cancers. The Wrights were the first researchers to report the use of nitrogen-mustard agents as a treatment for cancer, which led to remissions in patients with sarcoma, Hodgkin’s disease, chronic myelogenous leukemia, and lymphoma. Prior to these treatments many blood cancers were seen as incurable.

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright continued to break numerous gender and race barriers throughout her career. After her father’s death, she was promoted to head of the Cancer Research Foundation and in 1967 she was appointed to the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke. During a time when there were only a few hundred Black women physicians in the United States, she was the highest-ranking Black woman at a nationally recognized medical institution. In 1971, she became the first woman president of the of the New York Cancer Society. Dr. Jane Cooke Wright’s contributions to chemotherapy ranks her as one of the most distinguished physician-scientists in modern medicine.

Geneticist, medical professor and pathologist Dr. James Bowman was interested in science from a young age. After graduating from high school with honors, he went on to study, and earn his bachelor’s degree in biology from Howard University. Dr. Bowman then attended medical school as part of the U.S. Army Medical Corps at Howard University and earned his medical degree in 1946. His intention was to become an Army medical officer, but at the time, segregation prevented it. Bowman decided to become an expert in pathology and completed his residency at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Bowman’s proficiency sent him abroad, he spent time in Iran studying favism, a disease which relates to the deficiency of glucose-6-dehydrogenase, then to the Galton Laboratory at the University College London to study genetics. After returning from London, Bowman accepted a faculty position at University of Chicago. His influential research on enzyme deficiency sent him on another world tour to do population studies in Mexico, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda among other places.

Dr. Bowman’s expertise in the fields of pathology and genetics earned him the position of professor emeritus in the departments of pathology and medicine at the University of Chicago. Bowman also served on the Committee on Genetics; the Committee on African and African American Studies; and as a senior scholar for the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. He published more than 90 papers in the fields of general human genetics; hematological population genetics; genetic variation among diverse peoples; and ethical, legal and public policy issues in human genetics. One of his most notable books, "Genetic Variation Disorders in People of African Origin," has been influential in diversifying the study of genetics.

Jewel Plummer Cobb, MD was one of the leading cancer researchers in the United States. Her research was focused on melanomas, the protective effects of skin pigmentation and how hormones, chemotherapy drugs and other substances causing changes in cancer cells. Additionally, she studied the varying efficacy of different chemotherapy drugs in cancer patients and in vitro.

Dr. Cobb, born in Chicago, Illinois in 1924, was a third generation of the Plummer family who sought a career in medical science including her grandfather, a freed slave, who graduated from Howard University and went on to become a pharmacist and her father who was the first black person to graduate with a medical degree from Cornell University, becoming a physician specializing in dermatology.

Dr. Cobb faced racism and sexism throughout her academic and professional career and made it a personal mission to provide advancement opportunities to minorities and women. She established privately funded programs for minorities in premedical and predental studies at Connecticut College. At Cal State Fullerton she worked to increase diversity, started a “president’s opportunity program” for minority students, and started a faculty tutoring program in math skills to prepare minorities for careers in the sciences. Cobb worked tirelessly with six colleges to develop minority grants and fellowships and filled gaps in government funding with private funds. In the 90’s and 00’s, Dr. Cobb worked for organizations providing STEM education for economically disadvantaged students. In 1993, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Sciences for advancement of women and underrepresented minorities in science.

During the course of her career, Dr. Cobb would serve as a New York University instructor and assistant professor, Hunter College visiting lecturer, Sarah Lawrence College Biology professor, Connecticut College Zoology Professor and Dean, Rutgers University, Douglass College Biology Professor and Dean, and the California State University Fullerton President Emerita. Dr. Cobb published numerous scientific papers and received 21 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous memberships in prestigious academic organizations including, Sigma Xi, National Academy of Sciences (Institute of Medicine), the National Science Foundation, a fellow of the National Cancer Institute and New York Academy of Science. She is the recipient of the Achievement in Excellence Award from the Center for Excellence in Education and the Reginald Wilson Award from the American Council on Education, Office of Minorities in Higher Education.

Clarence “Skip” Ellis was the first Black Ph.D. in computer science and a trailblazer in the burgeoning field.

Born in 1943, in the South Side of Chicago, Ellis first became interested in computers when he served as a night-shift security guard at the Dover Corporation, while still in high school. This initial foray into computers led him to a scholarship in mathematics at Beloit College. Ellis was one of the few Black students at the time at Beloit and involved in setting up the school’s first computer laboratory.

Ellis continued his education by receiving a Master of Science in mathematics and then a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1969. The first Ph.D. ever granted in computer science was in 1965. Ellis’ dissertation in 1969 anticipated modern search engines such as Google as well as artificial intelligence.

After earning his Ph.D., Ellis had an extensive career in the computer science field working as a researcher and software developer at Bell Telephone Laboratories, IBM, Xerox PARC, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation serving as head of the Groupware Research Group, Los Alamos Scientific Labs Argonne National Lab working on supercomputers, MIT on ARPANET, the Institute for the Future, and Bull S.A as the chief architect of the FlowPath workflow product. Additionally, Ellis taught at Stanford University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Johannes Kepler Institute in Austria, and at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and finally at the University of Colorado, at Boulder as a professor and director of the Collaboration Technology Research Group. Most significantly, while at Xerox PARC, he was a part of a team to work on the world’s first personal computer, related interfaces and software, as well as the first office system with icons and ethernet.

Ellis published extensively in professional journals and was widely cited, writing over 100 technical papers and several books. In 1998, Ellis was named the first Black Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). After retirement, Ellis taught at Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana. As late as 2003, he was the only full professor of computer science in the top 50 most prestigious universities, and one of only four Black computer science faculty.

Dorothy Lavinia Brown, MD, also known as Dr. D, was a medical pioneer, educator and community leader. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1919, Dr. D spent her youth at a New York orphanage. At the age of five she needed to have her tonsils removed and the experience inspired her dream to become a doctor. Dr. D was always a dedicated student, and after graduating high school at the top of her class, she earned a 4-year scholarship to Bennett College. From there, she moved to Nashville to attend Meharry Medical College and fulfill her life’s dream.

Dr. D finished medical school at the top of her class and started an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York. However, when she applied for a surgical residency, she was rejected because of her race and gender. Still determined, Dr. D turned to Dr. Matthew Walker, Meharry’s longtime chief of surgery, for help. Against the advice of his staff, Dr. Walker allowed her to complete her residency with him at Meharry. Dr. D was also offered a faculty position that she held for more than 20 years. She went on to become the first woman to practice general surgery in the south, Chief of Surgery at Nashville’s Riverside Hospital and the first African American woman to be made fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. D’s personal life also included many great accomplishments. In 1956, she became the first single adoptive mother in Tennessee, and in 1966, when redistricting opened the door, she was asked to run for a seat in the state legislature and won, making her the first African American woman representative in Tennessee. In her position, Dr. D fought for equality and was successful in passing a law that allowed single women to adopt children throughout the state.

A dedicated mentor, avid civil rights advocate and decorated physician, Dr. D’s many honors include the Dorothy L. Brown Women’s Residency at Meharry College, the Humanitarian Award from the Carnegie Foundation and the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, among others. She often said she was proud to be a role model, “not because I have done so much, but to say to young people that it can be done.”

Marie Maynard Daly, PhD, was born in Queens, NY and her interest in science started at a young age. Her father wanted to become a chemist but was unable to complete his education due to financial hardship. With his support, Daly went on to study and build a career in chemistry.

Daly earned a Bachelor of Science from Queens College, graduating magna cum laude and continued studying chemistry at New York University, where she earned her master’s degree. She then enrolled at Columbia University, where she completed the PhD program in three years and became the first Black woman to earn a doctoral degree in chemistry.

Daly’s impressive education launched an even more decorated and influential career. After receiving her PhD, she became an instructor at Howard University and began research on the components, composition, and metabolism in the cell nucleus, under direction of Herman Branson, PhD. She continued her research at the Rockefeller Institute, the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, and finally served as an investigator for the American Heart Association.

Throughout her career, Daly dedicated her time to several important research areas. Some of her most influential work was on understanding the causes of atherosclerosis. Her study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine examined cholesterol levels, blood pressures, as well as damaged or clogged arteries in rats. She identified a strong correlation between high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels in the blood, which was a groundbreaking discovery at that time and laid the foundation for future research into the causes of atherosclerosis and other high blood pressure related diseases. Daly also made major contributions to research on protein synthesis, creatine's uptake by muscle cells, the basic understanding of histones and ultimately, the organization of our DNA.

JCVI

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Celebrating pioneers in science and medicine this Black History Month

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