Sylvia Lawler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sylvia Lawler
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| Born |
Sylvia Dorothy Corben
15 January 1922 Bournemouth, England
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| Died | 17 January 1996 (aged 74) |
| Other names | Sylvia Dorothy Bagshawe |
| Education | University College London |
| Known for | Genetics, research into leukaemia and trophoblastic disease |
Sylvia Dorothy Lawler was an important English scientist. She was a geneticist, which means she studied how traits are passed down through families. She was born on January 15, 1922, and passed away on January 17, 1996.
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Early Life and Learning
Sylvia Lawler grew up in Bournemouth, England. She was the only child of a furniture salesman and a teacher. In 1939, she started studying medicine at University College London. She was a very bright student and graduated in 1945 as the top student in her year.
Her Amazing Career
Sylvia Lawler started her work by studying blood types, especially the Rhesus blood group. This system helps doctors match blood for transfusions. In 1949, she was invited to join a special department at Galton Laboratory in London. This was the first department in the world dedicated to studying human genetics.
She even wrote a book called Human Blood Groups and Inheritance in 1951. She wrote it with Lawrence J. Lawler. The book was updated later in 1957 and printed again in 1966.
Working on Cancer Research
In 1960, Sylvia Lawler became a research scientist at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. She was very interested in how genes affect cancer. In 1980, she became the first female professor at the institute.
She helped create new ways to match tissues for bone marrow transplants. This is super important for patients needing new bone marrow. She also helped start the International Workshops on Chromosomes in Leukaemia. This group studies how changes in chromosomes can lead to leukaemia, a type of cancer. She also set up the first national bank in the UK for special tissues, with help from the Medical Research Council.
Her Important Research
One of Sylvia Lawler's main interests was studying a group of rare diseases called trophoblastic disease. These diseases can happen during pregnancy. She worked hard to improve how doctors diagnose and treat them.
Her research on human leukocyte antigens (HLA) helped show that some of these diseases might come from an earlier pregnancy. She also used genetic polymorphisms (small differences in DNA) to figure out how certain types of these diseases develop. Sylvia Lawler was also a pioneer in studying the human genome, which is the complete set of DNA instructions in a person.
She was a founding member of the Royal College of Pathologists. She was also an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians.
Her Personal Life
Sylvia married Lawrence John Lawler. He was a captain in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and later became a schoolteacher. They had one son named Anthony John, who was born in 1955.
Later, she married Kenneth Dawson Bagshawe in 1977. He was also a professor who studied cancer. Sylvia Lawler passed away on January 17, 1996, just two days after her 74th birthday.
Her Lasting Legacy
Sylvia Lawler's amazing work is remembered through the Royal Society of Medicine Sylvia Lawler prize. Each year, two prizes are given out for the best scientific paper and the best paper about patient care. This shows how much her contributions helped science and medicine.
