Betty Elaine Collette (December 5, 1930 – ) was a veterinary pathologist from

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. She attended Stephens-Lee High School. It is believed she earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Morgan State University, and her Ph.D. in bacteriology from

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

Research

Collette was the only African-American pathology researcher at Georgetown University School of Medicine in the 1950s. Collette was described as an "animal-lover" and often kept animal skulls as a hobby. Her research focused on

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

in animals, often using "white mice, guinea pigs, dogs, rabbits and other animals" in her research. Later in her career, she was a professor at Howard University.

References

1930 births 2017 deaths American pathologists Morgan State University alumni Catholic University of America alumni Howard University faculty African-American women physicians African-American physicians American women academics 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women People from Asheville, North Carolina {{US-physician-stub