CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow
(Jul 19, 1921- May 30, 2011)
💠American Medical Physicist
Her contributions…
🔸Yalow was born to the parents who never even finished high school. In spite of that, she graduated in Physics with honours from Hunters College, New York in 1941.
🔸She also did her Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics and then she worked as a lecturer. At one point of time, she decided to devote her career to full-time research.
🔸She collaborated with her colleague Dr. Solomon A. Berson, an American Physician, and together they developed the Radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 1960.
🔸By this method, they assessed the concentration of insulin in human plasma. This created a revolution in biological and medical science.
🔸By using the RIA method, they were the first to detect Insulin Antibodies. Also, by measuring insulin level, they found that Type 2 diabetes patients produced more insulin than non-diabetics, providing evidence that inability to use insulin caused diabetes (previously believed to be a lack of insulin). This pioneering work turned diabetes research into new direction.
🔸However, they both refused to patent their ground-breaking method. The RIA paved a new way in the field of medicine by…
🔅Screening viruses in blood and blood products in blood banks.
🔅Measuring growth hormones, ACTH, thyroid etc.
🔅Measuring concentration of narcotic drugs and antibiotics.
🔅Early detection of cancers.
🔸In 1977, she was honoured with shared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of medical diagnostic test – Radioimmunoassay.
🔸Subsequently, she received…
🔅Eli Lilly award of American Diabetes Association.
🔅American College of Physicians award.
🔅American Medical Association Scientific Achievement award.
🔅Albert Lasker award for Basic Medical Research.
🔅National Medal of Science – An American award for highest honour for Science and Technology.
🔸Before the introduction of RIA, there was a lot of guesswork in medicine. Their discovery replaced all the guessworks.
A Day to Commemorate…
A Women Scientist Who Transformed Clinical Medicine
Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow 🙏
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Truly said.. Dr Yalow transformed clinical medicine and obliged mankind. 🙏🏽🙏🏽