Nancy Andrews (biologist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nancy C. Andrews
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Born | November 29, 1958 |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Yale University (BS, MS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) Harvard University (MD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Biology |
Institutions | Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Children’s Hospital Boston Harvard Medical School Duke University School of Medicine |
Doctoral advisor | David Baltimore |
Other academic advisors | Joan Steitz Stuart Orkin |
Nancy C. Andrews, born on November 29, 1958, is an American scientist. She is a biologist and a doctor. Dr. Andrews is famous for her important research on how our bodies manage iron. She also used to be the leader, or Dean, of the Duke University School of Medicine.
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About Nancy C. Andrews
Nancy Andrews grew up in Syracuse, New York. She went to Yale University and earned two degrees there. She studied how tiny parts of living things work, like molecules. She then earned her Ph.D. in 1985 from M.I.T.. After that, she became a medical doctor, getting her M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1987.
Dr. Andrews' Career Journey
In 1991, Dr. Andrews started working at Harvard University. She also worked at Children's Hospital Boston and the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. She became a special professor in 2003. She also led the basic science and graduate studies programs at Harvard Medical School.
In 2007, Dr. Andrews made history. She became the first woman to be the Dean of Medicine at Duke University. This was a very important job. She was the only woman leading any of the top ten medical schools in the U.S. She held this position until 2017. In November 2021, she became a top scientific leader at Boston Children's Hospital.
Her Research on Iron
Dr. Andrews has spent much of her career studying iron in the body. Iron is super important for our health. She looked into how our bodies control iron levels. She also studied diseases related to iron. These include anemia, which is when you don't have enough iron. She also studied hemochromatosis, which is when you have too much iron. Her work helps doctors understand and treat these conditions.
Leadership Roles
Besides her research, Dr. Andrews has held many leadership roles. From 2017 to 2023, she led the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is currently the Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences. She also serves on the boards of several companies.
Nancy Andrews' Family Life
Nancy Andrews is married to another biologist, Bernard Mathey-Prevot. Her family has a history of important people. Her great-grandparents were Judge William Shankland Andrews and author Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. Her great-great-grandparents were Chief Judge Charles Andrews and Bishop Frederic Dan Huntington. She is also related to the famous composer Roger Sessions.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Dr. Andrews has received many awards for her amazing work. Here are some of them:
- 1993–2006: Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- 1998: Samuel Rosenthal Prize for Excellence in Academic Pediatrics
- 2000: American Federation for Medical Research Foundation Outstanding Investigator Award in Basic Science
- 2002: E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research
- 2004: Dean's Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women Faculty at Harvard Medical School
- 2006: Elected to the National Academy of Medicine, National Academies of Science
- 2007: Elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2010: Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science
- 2013: Henry M. Stratton Medal, American Society of Hematology
- 2015: Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Selected Works
Dr. Andrews has written many important scientific papers. These papers share her discoveries with other scientists. Here are a few examples of her published works:
- Andrews NC, Erdjument-Bromage H, Davidson MB, Tempst P, Orkin SH. Erythroid transcription factor NF-E2 is a haematopoietic-specific basic-leucine zipper protein. Nature 1993; 362:722-8.
- Fleming MD, Trenor CC 3rd, Su MA, Foernzler D, Beier DR, Dietrich WF, and Andrews NC. Microcytic anemia mice have a mutation in Nramp2, a candidate iron transporter gene. Nature Genetics 1997; 16:383-6.
- Levy JE, Jin O, Fujiwara Y, Kuo F, Andrews NC. Transferrin receptor is necessary for development of erythrocytes and the nervous system. Nature Genetics 1999; 21:396-9.
- Andrews NC. Medical Progress: Disorders of Iron Metabolism. New England Journal of Medicine 1999;341:1986-95.
- Donovan A, Brownlie A, Zhou Y, Shepard J, Pratt SJ, Moynihan J, Paw BH, Drejer A, Barut B, Zapata A, Law TC, Brugnara C, Lux SE, Pinkus GS, Pinkus JL, Kingsley PD, Palis J, Fleming MD, Andrews NC, Zon LI. Positional cloning of zebrafish ferroportin 1 identifies a conserved vertebrate iron exporter. Nature 2000; 403:776-81.
- Andrews NC. The other physician-scientist problem: where have all the young girls gone? Nature Medicine 2002; 8:439-41.
- Donovan A, Lima CA, Pinkus JL, Pinkus GS, Zon LI, Robine S, Andrews NC. The iron exporter ferroportin (Slc40a1) is essential for iron homeostasis. Cell Metabolism 2005; 1:191-200.
- Gunshin H, Fujiwara Y, Custodio A, DiRenzo C, Robine S, Andrews NC. Slc11a2 is required for intestinal iron absorption and erythropoiesis but dispensable in placenta and liver. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2005; 115(5):1258-1266.
- Schmidt PJ, Toran PT, Giannetti AM, Bjorkman PJ and Andrews NC. The transferrin receptor modulates Hfe-dependent regulation of hepcidin expression. Cell Metabolism 2008; 7:205-14.
- Finberg KE, Heeney MM, Campagna DR, Aydinok Y, Pearson HA, Hartman KR, Mayo MM, Samuel SM, Strouse JJ, Markianos K, Andrews NC, Fleming MD. Mutations in TMPRSS6 cause iron-refractory, iron deficiency anemia. Nature Genetics 2008; 40:569-571.
- Xu W, Barrientos T, Mao L, Rockman HA, Sauve AA, Andrews NC. Lethal cardiomyopathy in mice lacking transferrin receptor in the heart. Cell Reports 2015; 13:533-45.
See also
In Spanish: Nancy Andrews para niños