Janet Rowley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Janet Rowley
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Rowley at the White House in August 2009
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| Born |
Janet Davison
April 5, 1925 |
| Died | December 17, 2013 (aged 88) |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago |
| Known for | Identification chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and other cancers |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Chicago |
Janet Davison Rowley (born April 5, 1925 – died December 17, 2013) was an amazing American scientist. She was a geneticist, someone who studies genes and heredity. Dr. Rowley was the first person to discover that cancer can be caused by a tiny mix-up in our chromosomes. This was a huge step in understanding how cancer works! She spent most of her life working in Chicago and received many important awards for her discoveries.
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Early Life and Learning
Janet Davison was born in New York City in 1925. She was the only child of Hurford and Ethel Ballantyne Davison. Her parents were both teachers. Her dad had a special business degree, and her mom had a master's degree in education. Later, her mom became a school librarian.
Janet went to a challenging junior high school in New Jersey. She became very interested in science there. When she was 15, in 1940, she got a scholarship. This allowed her to study at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. She finished high school and her first two years of college there.
She then went on to the University of Chicago. She earned her first degree in 1944. She got another science degree in 1946. By 1948, at age 23, she had earned her medical doctor degree. At one point, Janet had to wait nine months to start university. This was because the school had a limit on how many students they could accept. Back then, only 3 out of 65 students in each class were allowed to be women.
The day after she graduated from medical school, she married Donald Adams Rowley. He was also a doctor and later became a famous pathologist. In 1951, both Janet and Donald finished their medical training in Chicago. Dr. Rowley continued to work in Chicago. She worked at a clinic for children with Down syndrome. She worked part-time until her youngest of four sons was 12 years old.
Discoveries and Career
After getting her medical license in 1951, Dr. Rowley worked as a doctor. She helped at clinics for babies and pregnant women. In 1955, she started a research job at a clinic for children with developmental disabilities. She stayed there until 1961. She also taught about the brain at the University of Illinois.
In 1962, Dr. Rowley became very interested in cancer and chromosomes. She studied how DNA copies itself in normal and unusual human chromosomes. Soon after, she returned to the University of Chicago. She became a research associate in the blood diseases department. She became a full professor in 1977.
In the 1970s, she improved ways to see and identify chromosomes. She showed that an unusual chromosome, called the Philadelphia chromosome, was linked to certain types of leukemia. She found that a piece of this chromosome had broken off and joined another chromosome. This process is called chromosomal translocation. It's like two chromosomes swapping parts.
Dr. Rowley also found other translocations. She discovered one between chromosomes 8 and 21 in a type of acute myelogenous leukemia. She found another between chromosomes 15 and 17 in promyelocytic leukemia. Her research also helped discover how a drug called retinoid acid forms. This drug can help certain proteins work normally again.
Dr. Rowley made her first big discovery about chromosomal translocation in 1972. She found it in a type of acute myeloid leukemia. When she shared her findings in the 1970s, she said that specific translocations caused specific diseases. This was a new idea. Most scientists at the time didn't think chromosome problems were that important for cancer. At first, some people didn't agree with her. But her work turned out to be very important. By 1990, scientists had found over seventy different translocations linked to various cancers.
Awards and Special Honors
In 1984, Dr. Rowley became a special professor at the University of Chicago. She also served as a leader for science programs. In 1989, she received two important awards: the Charles S. Mott Prize and the Clowes Memorial Award. In 1991, she became a member of the American Philosophical Society.
In 1998, she was one of three scientists to win the famous Lasker Award. This was for their work on translocations. She also received the National Medal of Science in 1998. In 1999, Dr. Rowley got the Golden Plate Award. In 2002, Discover magazine named her one of the 50 most important women in science.
In 2003, she received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences. In 2007, she won an award for her work in molecular diagnostics. In 2009, Dr. Rowley received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is the highest award a civilian can get in the United States. President Barack Obama gave it to her. She also won the Gruber Prize in Genetics that year.
Then, in 2010, she received the Jesse Stevenson Kovalenko Medal. In 2012, she was chosen for the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Award. She also joined their Scientific Advisory Board. In 2012, she won the Japan Prize for Healthcare and Medical Technology. She shared this award with two other scientists for their part in creating a medicine called Gleevec.
For her amazing scientific work, Dr. Rowley received honorary doctor degrees from many universities. These included Yale University and Harvard University. She was also a member of many important scientific groups. These include the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. She wrote over five hundred articles. She kept doing her research at the University of Chicago until just before she passed away. In 2017, she was honored in the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Later Life
On December 17, 2013, Dr. Rowley passed away at home. She was 88 years old and had been ill.
See also
In Spanish: Janet Rowley para niños
