Dorothy Hansine Andersen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dorothy Hansine Andersen
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| Born | May 15, 1901 |
| Died | March 3, 1963 (aged 61) |
| Education | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
| Known for | Identifying cystic fibrosis and glycogen storage disease type IV |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions | University of Rochester Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center Armed Forces Institute of Pathology |
| Sub-specialties | Pathology, pediatrics |
| Awards |
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Dorothy Hansine Andersen was an amazing American doctor. She was born on May 15, 1901, and passed away on March 3, 1963. Dr. Andersen was the first person to discover and name a serious illness called cystic fibrosis. She was also the first to describe this disease in detail. In 1939, she received the E. Mead Johnson Award for her important discovery. Later, in 2002, she was honored by being added to the National Women's Hall of Fame.
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Early Life
Dorothy Hansine Andersen was born in Asheville, North Carolina on May 15, 1901. Her father, Hans Peter Andersen, died when she was 13 years old in 1914. After his death, Dorothy took on the big responsibility of caring for her mother, who was ill. They later moved to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Her mother passed away in 1920 when Dorothy was 19.
Education and Early Career
In 1922, Dorothy Andersen earned her bachelor's degree. She studied zoology (the study of animals) and chemistry at Mount Holyoke College. After that, she went to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to become a doctor. There, she started doing research with a famous scientist named Florence R. Sabin.
Dorothy's first two research papers were about blood vessels in female pigs. These papers were published in a science journal. After finishing medical school, Dr. Andersen worked as a teaching assistant. She taught anatomy at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
A year later, she became an intern for surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital. An internship is like on-the-job training for doctors. After her internship, she wanted to continue training in general surgery. However, she was not allowed to because she was a woman. This led Dr. Andersen to focus more on medical research.
In 1929, she started working at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She began as an assistant in pathology. Pathology is the study of diseases. Later, she was asked to become an instructor at the medical school. To further her research career, Dr. Andersen decided to get another degree. She studied endocrinology, which is about hormones. In 1935, she earned her doctorate from Columbia University.
Focus on Pathology
After getting her doctorate, Dorothy Andersen became a pathologist at Babies Hospital. This hospital was part of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. She worked there for the rest of her medical career. In 1945, she was also given the title of assistant pediatrician at Babies Hospital. A pediatrician is a doctor who treats children.
During World War II, Dr. Andersen's knowledge of anatomy was very useful. She was asked to be a consultant for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. In 1952, she became the chief of pathology at Babies Hospital. That same year, she received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award for her contributions to medicine.
Important Research Discoveries
During her research, Dorothy Hansine Andersen studied many children. These children had problems with their digestion or breathing. She performed autopsies on children who died from these issues. An autopsy is a medical examination after death.
While doing autopsies, she noticed something important. Many patients who died from a condition called celiac disease had fluid-filled cysts. These cysts were surrounded by scars on their pancreas. She also found similar scars and tissue damage in their lungs.
These findings led her to a major conclusion. She realized that the lung and pancreas damage came from the same disease. She named this new disease "cystic fibrosis of the pancreas." The word "cystic" refers to the cysts she found. "Fibrosis" describes the scar tissue in the lungs and pancreas. Her groundbreaking research was published in 1938. She received the E. Mead Johnson Award in 1939 for this discovery.
In 1942, Dr. Andersen created the first good test for cystic fibrosis. She worked with Paul di Sant'Agnese at Babies Hospital. This test helped doctors diagnose the disease more easily. In 1948, The American Academy of Pediatrics gave her an award. This was for her research on how different antibiotics helped children with cystic fibrosis. Antibiotics helped with lung infections, which were a main cause of death.
By 1958, Dr. Andersen became a full professor at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She wrote that cystic fibrosis was a genetic disease. It was thought to be deadly for babies. However, she found that many patients were living into early adulthood. Her last paper on cystic fibrosis was published in 1959. It discussed how the disease affected young adults.
It wasn't until the early 1980s that scientists found the exact cause of cystic fibrosis. They discovered it was due to a single gene change. This change causes thick, sticky fluids to build up in the body. These fluids mainly affect the pancreas and lungs.
Besides cystic fibrosis, Dr. Andersen also studied another rare disease. She was the first to describe glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV). This disease is also known as Andersen's disease. It happens when the body lacks an important enzyme. This causes too much glycogen to build up in the liver. This disease is inherited from parents. Symptoms usually appear in a child's first few months. Sadly, it is often fatal within the first few years of life.
Personal Life
Dr. Andersen was well-liked by her students as a professor. She was a quiet person. Some people thought she was "unladylike" because she enjoyed an active lifestyle. She loved hiking, canoeing, and carpentry. However, her supporters defended her. They praised her talent and her important work in medicine.
Towards the end of her career, Dr. Andersen developed lung cancer. She had surgery in 1962. Dorothy Hansine Andersen passed away at age 61 on March 3, 1963, in New York City.
Awards After Her Death
After her death in 1963, her work continued to receive recognition. She was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. To remember her vital work on cystic fibrosis, Dorothy Hansine Andersen was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2002.
