Dorothy Hansine Andersen M.D. (1901 - 1963)

Born 15 May 1901 in Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Died 3 Mar 1963 at age 61 in Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Russell Butler [send private message]

Biography

Dorothy Andersen M.D. is Notable.

Dorothy was a medical pioneer.

Dorothy Andersen M.D. has Danish ancestors

Identified and described cystic fibrosis (CF) and co-created the first efficient diagnostic test for CF, so that infants with the disease could immediately begin treatment, and have longer life expectancies.

Dorothy was born in 1901. Her parents were Hans Peter Andersen and Mary Louise Mason. She earned her bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College and her medical degree from Johns Hopkins of School of Medicine where she worked under Dr. Florence Sabin. She earned a doctorate in medical science/endocrinology from Columbia University in 1935.

In 1938, she identified and described cystic fibrosis (CF). In 1942, she and Paul di Sant'Agnese (both researchers at Columbia) created the first efficient diagnostic test for CF, so that infants with the disease could immediately begin treatment, and have longer life expectancies. She also investigated and described glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV), known as Andersen's Disease.

She was also known for her expertise in infant cardiology. During World War II, she developed a training program for open-heart surgeons at several hospitals, including the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

She spent most of her career at Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, where she was appointed as Chief of Pathology. In 1958, she became a full-time professor at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.

She became ill with lung cancer and died when she was 61 years old. She was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago ^[1]. She was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2001 ^[2].

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #137744105
2. ↑ Women's Hall of Fame, 2001

• Changing the Face of Medicine - National Library of Medicine (NLM) - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Elizabeth H. Oakes, Encyclopedia of World Scientists, Revised Edition. Infobase Publishing, 2007

See also:

• Wikipedia: Dorothy Hansine Andersen
• Wikidata: Item Q469231, en:Wikipedia
• FamilySearch Person: L6T2-QSQ