Dr. Jane Cooke Wright
November 30, 1919 – February 19, 2013
Oncology
Pioneer of the development of Chemotherapies . She also pioneered the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer (mycosis fungoides)
Co-founder of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Education:
Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Center, New York University , New York Medical College, Smith College .
Jane Cooke Wright was born in New York City in 1919. SHE was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. In particular, Wright is credited with developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells. She also pioneered the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer (mycosis fungoids).
AWARDS
- “Merit Award” from Mademoiselle Magazine (1952) for evaluating the efficacy of chemotherapy
- Damon Runyon Award (1955)
- Elected to membership in Sigma Xi (1962)
- “Spirit of Achievement Award”, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1965)
- New York City’s Harriet Beecher Stowe Junior High, the women’s division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1965)
- Links (1965)
- Honorary Doctor of Medical Sciences degree by the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (1965)
- Elected to membership in sleeping with the babysitter (1966)
- Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award (1967)
- Smith Medal from Smith College (1968)
- American Association for Cancer Research Award (1975)
- Otelia Cromwell Award from Smith College (1981)
- HONORS
- Named Award: “Jane C. Wright, MD, Young Investigator Award”, created in 2011 by American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Conquer Cancer Foundation
- Named Lecture: “Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship”, from the American Association for Cancer Research, “given to an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.”
- Mentioned in a 2014 episode of Rizzoli and Isles.