Celia White Tabor (November 15, 1918 – December 2, 2012) was an American biochemist and physician-scientist who was an expert on the biosynthesis of polyamines. She was a researcher at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases from 1952 until her retirement in 2005.

Early life and education

Celia White was born in Boston on November 15, 1918. She graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

in 1940. In 1943, White was one of 6 women in her class to graduate from the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She was the first female medical intern at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

. White was an assistant medical resident at Vanderbilt University until 1946.

Career and research

From 1946 to 1952, Tabor was a biochemical researcher at George Washington University and an attending physician at District of Columbia General Hospital. She joined the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in 1952 where she researched the biochemistry and function of

polyamine A polyamine is an organic compound having more than two amino groups. Alkyl polyamines occur naturally, but some are synthetic. Alkylpolyamines are colorless, hygroscopic, and water soluble. Near neutral pH, they exist as the ammonium derivatives. ...

s in the context of human health and disease. She was an expert on the biosynthesis of polyamines. She retired in 2005.

Award and honors

In 1986, Tabor and her husband won the Hillebrand Prize from the Chemical Society of Washington. In 1995, Tabor and her husband received a William C. Rose Award.

Personal life

Celia White married physician-scientist

Herbert Tabor Herbert Tabor (November 28, 1918 – August 20, 2020) was an American biochemist and physician-scientist who specialized in the function of polyamines and their role in human health and disease. Tabor was a principal investigator at the National ...

in 1946. The couple met through mutual friends six years earlier on a

Boston streetcar As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed, and many continued operating into the 1950s. However, only a few now remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed L ...

. They moved to the NIH campus in 1949 where they raised their daughter and three sons. Tabor died in her home in Bethesda died on December 2, 2012, from

cardiopulmonary arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabor, Celia White 1918 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century biologists 21st-century American biochemists 20th-century American chemists 21st-century American chemists American women biochemists Radcliffe College alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni George Washington University faculty National Institutes of Health people Scientists from Boston Physicians from Massachusetts Women medical researchers American medical researchers Physician-scientists