Joanna Fowler facts for kids

Joanna Sigfred Fowler (born August 9, 1942) is an American scientist famous for her work studying the human brain. She helped create special tools called radiotracers that let doctors see how the brain works. Her research has helped us understand how diseases, medicines, and aging affect our brains.

For her amazing work, Fowler has won many important awards, including the National Medal of Science, one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. She worked for many years at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.

Early Life and Education

Joanna Fowler was born in Miami, Florida. She loved science from a young age and went to the University of South Florida, where she earned her degree in chemistry in 1964.

She continued her studies and received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Colorado in 1967. After finishing her education, she worked at the Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1969 until she retired in 2014. She is also a respected professor at Stony Brook University.

Amazing Discoveries in Brain Science

Dr. Fowler's research has given us a new window into the human brain. She is a pioneer in developing radiotracers, which are key to a medical imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET).

What are Radiotracers?

Imagine you want to follow a specific substance, like sugar, as it travels through the brain. A radiotracer is like a tiny, glowing tag that you can attach to that substance. When the tagged substance moves through the body, a special camera (a PET scanner) can track the "glow." This creates a map showing where the substance is going and what it's doing. This helps doctors study the brain without surgery.

A Special Sugar Molecule

In 1976, Fowler and her team created one of the most important radiotracers ever. They attached a radioactive tag to glucose, a type of sugar that the brain uses for energy. This tagged sugar, called FDG, allows doctors to see how different parts of the brain use energy.

This invention was a huge breakthrough. Today, PET scans using FDG are used all over the world. They help doctors study brain conditions like schizophrenia and the effects of aging. They are also a very important tool for finding and treating cancer.

Understanding Brain Chemistry

Fowler also developed radiotracers to study an important brain enzyme called monoamine oxidase (MAO). Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions in the body. MAO helps control the levels of chemicals that brain cells use to communicate with each other.

Using her new tools, Fowler made a surprising discovery. She found that people who smoke have lower levels of MAO in their brains. This discovery helped explain some of the behavioral effects of smoking and has led to many more studies on the topic. Her work also helped show how certain substances can change the chemistry of the human brain.

Because of her groundbreaking work, Fowler holds eight patents for her scientific inventions.

Awards and Recognition

Joanna Fowler's incredible contributions to science have been celebrated with many of the world's top awards.

In 2008, she received the National Medal of Science from the President of the United States. This is one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. In 2003, she was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a group of the most respected scientists in the country.

Some of her other major honors include:

• The E.O. Lawrence Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1998.
• The Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1998.
• The Glen T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry in 2002.
• The National Academy of Science Award in Chemical Sciences in 2009.