Hattie Alexander
Hattie E. Alexander | |
---|---|
antibiotic resistance | |
Awards | E. Mead Johnson Award (1943) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Pediatrics and microbiology |
Hattie Elizabeth Alexander (April 5, 1901 – June 24, 1968) was an American
Early life and education
Alexander was born in
Career
In 1932, Alexander became an instructor and researcher in the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University, where she spent her entire professional career.[4] Here, Alexander slowly made her way up the professional hierarchy, starting as the Holt Fellow in Diseases of Children in 1932, Assistant in Diseases of Children in 1934, and Instructor in Diseases of Children in 1935. From 1936 to 1943, Alexander was the associate in pediatrics before continuing to work her way up the professional chain by becoming assistant professor in 1943, associate professor in 1948, and finally professor from 1958. She retired in 1966.[3] While at the Columbia-Presbyterian Babies Hospital, Alexander became the main authority on bacterial infections and the lead microbiologist in the laboratory.[6] From 1941 to 1945, she served as a consultant to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson on the Influenza Commission.[7] Alexander was the first woman to serve as president of the American Pediatric Society.[8] Alexander died of liver cancer[9] in New York City on June 24, 1968. Her obituary was published in The New York Times and The Baltimore Sun, which recognized her for producing the first treatment for influenzal meningitis.[9]
Research
Alexander's work aimed to advance research of infectious diseases and the biology of the microorganisms that cause meningitis in a time before antibiotics or vaccinations. Her research focused primarily on the mechanisms and effects of meningitis in children which at the time had a high mortality rate.[3][9] Alexander started her studies by trying to identify the prognostic and diagnostic strategies of meningitis.[3] She was able to successfully identify in one of her early studies the prognostic ability of cerebrospinal fluid in precipitin tests. Hattie noted that those with a positive precipitin test result had a higher rate of mortality than those with a negative result.[3]
In the wake of the development of an anti-pneumonia serum at New York's
By developing standardized techniques for diagnosis and treatment, she and her associate Grace Leidy helped reduce the mortality rate from Hib from nearly 100 percent to less than 25 percent. Later, Alexander and Leidy studied the effect of
In the course of her research on antibiotics, Alexander noted and reported the appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains of Hib. She concluded, correctly, that this was caused by random genetic mutations in DNA which were positively selected through evolution; she and Leidy demonstrated the occurrence of transformation in the Hib bacillus, leading to resistance.[4]
Awards and honors
Alexander received numerous honors and awards for her work, including the
References
- PMID 17790172
- ^ "Hattie Elizabeth Alexander | American physician and microbiologist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
- ^ PMID 8627451.
- ^ a b c d e f "Hattie Elizabeth Alexander | American physician and microbiologist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
- ^ "Changing the Face of Medicine | Hattie Elizabeth Alexander". cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- ^ "Hattie Alexander, a Medical Woman Pioneer at CUMC". HSL Library Archives. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Hattie Alexander papers | Archives and Special Collections". www.library-archives.cumc.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
- ISSN 1045-1870.
- ^ a b c Rodricks, Dan. "Overlooked medical history: Women from Baltimore who saved children from a 'death sentence' | COMMENTARY". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ "Notable People | Goucher College". www.goucher.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
- PMID 20994710.
- ^ "Symposium on Tuberculosis in Infancy and Childhood" (PDF). library.ucsd.edu. November 1955. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ PMID 8627451.
Sources
- American National Biography, vol. 1, pp. 270–271.
- CDC biography
- Biography.com profile
- New York Times obituary, June 25, 1968 (subscription required)
- Columbia University: Faculty Remembered
Further reading
- Aydelotte, Allison (2000). Alexander, Hattie Elizabeth (1901–1968), microbiologist and pediatrician. American National Biography. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7.
- Haag, John (1999). "Alexander, Hattie". In Commire, Anne (ed.). ISBN 0787640808.
- Shearer, Benjamin F. (1996). Notable women in the life sciences : a biographical dictionary (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. OCLC 832549823.