Elaine Straus Ron (1943-November 20, 2010) was an American epidemiologist specializing in radiation and

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

. She was a senior investigator in the radiation epidemiology branch at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

. Ron was an advocate for

women in science The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...

Early life and education

Ron was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She earned a bachelors degree at Case Western Reserve University. Ron completed a M.P.H. at

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. It is consistently rated among the best schools of public health in the co ...

in 1974. Her thesis was titled ''Israeli medical graduates, a subgroup of the FMG population''. Ron earned a Ph.D. from

Sackler Faculty of Medicine Sackler Faculty of Medicine is a medical school affiliated with Tel Aviv University, located in Tel Aviv, Israel. History The Sackler School of Medicine was named for Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler, and was founded and named prior to the ...

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. She was a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

and visiting associate in the

(NCI) environmental epidemiology branch from 1980 to 1981.

Career and research

From 1981 to 1986, Ron was chief of the cancer unit in the department of clinical epidemiology at the

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer ( he, המרכז הרפואי ע"ש חיים שיבא – תל השומר), also Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan at Tel HaShome ...

. While there, she investigated cancer in infertile women. She joined the NCI in 1986 and served as chief of the radiation epidemiology branch from 1997 to 2002. Ron was an advocate of equity for women scientists at work, preventing cruelty to animals, and advancing

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. She was the first woman scientist advisor in the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the NCI. Her advocacy for women led to regular salary comparisons by gender, expanded

NIH The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

daycare facilities, workplace flexibility for

tenure-track Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

investigators to work part time, and named lectureships honoring women scientists. Ron specialized in radiation epidemiology and in the causes of

. In her earliest work in Israel, she identified the long-term cancer effects of radiation treatment for

tinea capitis Tinea capitis (also known as "herpes tonsurans", "ringworm of the hair", "ringworm of the scalp", "scalp ringworm", and "tinea tonsurans") is a cutaneous fungal infection (dermatophytosis) of the scalp. The disease is primarily caused by dermato ...

. She conducted studies of the

atomic bomb survivors ''Hibakusha'' ( or ; ja, 被爆者 or ; "person affected by a bomb" or "person affected by exposure o radioactivity) is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at t ...

in Japan, residents of the former Soviet Union exposed to the

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...

compounds from the Chernobyl accident and patients exposed to diagnostic and therapeutic radiation. Ron led the largest study of cancer risks among patients treated with

radioactive iodine There are 37 known isotopes of iodine (53I) from 108I to 144I; all undergo radioactive decay except 127I, which is stable. Iodine is thus a monoisotopic element. Its longest-lived radioactive isotope, 129I, has a half-life of 15.7 million year ...

for

hyperthyroidism Hyperthyroidism is the condition that occurs due to excessive production of thyroid hormones by the thyroid gland. Thyrotoxicosis is the condition that occurs due to excessive thyroid hormone of any cause and therefore includes hyperthyroidism ...

and the first international effort to pool epidemiologic data on thyroid cancer. She launched a major investigation into the potential adverse effects of

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

screening among children and young adults. On March 9, 2011, the NCI hosted a memorial symposium on research strategies in radiation and cancer in Ron's honor.

Personal life

Ron died of cancer on November 20, 2010 at her home in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. She was survived by her son, Ariel.

Reference

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ron, Elaine 1943 births 2010 deaths Deaths from cancer in Maryland Scientists from New York City 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists Cancer researchers National Institutes of Health people Case Western Reserve University alumni Yale School of Public Health alumni Tel Aviv University alumni American women's rights activists American women activists