Eleanor Josephine Macdonald (4 March 1906 – 26 July 2007) was a pioneer American

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and risk factor, determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decision ...

and

cancer researcher Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...

influenced and

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

ed by

Edwin Bidwell Wilson Edwin Bidwell Wilson (April 25, 1879 – December 28, 1964) was an American mathematician, statistician, physicist and general polymath. He was the sole protégé of Yale University physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs and was mentor to MIT economist ...

and

Shields Warren Shields Warren (February 26, 1898 – July 1, 1980) was an American pathologist. He was among the first to study the pathology of radioactive fallout.disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

. She established the first

cancer registry A cancer registry is a systematic collection of data about cancer and tumor diseases. The data are collected by National Cancer Registrars Association, Cancer Registrars. Cancer Registrars capture a complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, ...

in the United States in Connecticut.

Life and times

Eleanor Josephine Macdonald the daughter of Angus Alexander and Catherine Macdonald was born in the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

suburb of West

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, in 1906. She died in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, in 2007. Angus Alexander, whose family had come from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, was an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

at A.T. & T. and Catharine Boland Macdonald, whose family were of

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

descent was a

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. She attended

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 ...

and graduated in 1928 with

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degrees in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. For 4 years following graduation, she performed as a professional

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Epidemiology career

Robert B. Greenough,

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

, chairman of the Cancer Committee in Massachusetts, and friend of the family asked Macdonald for assistance in writing a research paper on cystic mastitis. This led her to become an

. Macdonald studied the fundamentals of

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

at Harvard University School of Public Health. At Harvard she worked with

who tutored her in statistical approaches and the

Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who a ...

methods Method ( grc, μέθοδος, methodos) literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In recent centuries it more often means a prescribed process for completing a task. It may refer to: *Scien ...

. Macdonald was then appointed as the

Epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and risk factor, determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decision ...

in Boston's State Cancer Program at the Division of Adult Hygiene for director Dr. Herbert L. Lombard. She was an early adopter of the new computer technology that became available to researchers. Since about 1930 Macdonald worked with

Remington Rand Remington Rand was an early American business machine manufacturer, originally a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers. Formed in 1927 following a merger, Remington Rand wa ...

punch cards. From 1940 to 1948 she worked for the Connecticut State Department of Health as

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

. Then to Memorial Hospital in New York. Macdonald was asked by Dr.

Thomas Parran, Jr. Thomas Parran (September 28, 1892 – February 16, 1968) was an American physician and Public Health Service officer. He was appointed the sixth Surgeon General of the United States from 1936 to 1948, and oversaw the notorious Tuskegee syphilis e ...

U.S. Surgeon General The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. Th ...

to set up a national cancer registry as she had done in Connecticut. In 1948 her work in Connecticut led to publishing the seminal work "The Incidence and Survival in Cancer". After this she went on to

M.D. Anderson Hospital The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

. Her work in New England caught the attention of Dr. R. Lee Clark who recruited her to be the head of the newly created Department of

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. In 1948 she went to Houston to become

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at MD Anderson. During her tenure she developed a 200-code (referred to as the anticipatory code) method for transcribing patient charts that provided statistical information to M. D. Anderson's physicians and researchers. In 1982 Macdonald retired from MD Anderson and from 1974 continued to serve as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. She died at home in Houston, Texas on 26 July 2007.

Awards and honors

* Honorary member, Statistical consultant,

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization th ...

* Honorary member,

American Radium Society The American Radium Society is a medical association devoted to the study and treatment of cancer. It was founded in 1916. The Society's original mission was to further "the scientific study of radium in relation to its physical properties and the ...

* Honorary member,

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

* Myron Gordon Award, 1972 (for contributions to understanding the role of race, sex and sun exposure to

malignant melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the Biological pigment, pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, i ...

) * Outstanding Service Award,

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, 1973 * Distinguished Service Award,

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

Rodriguez, M. Alma, Walters, R.S., Burke, T.W. (Eds). (2013). 60 Years of Survival Outcomes at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Springer. . New York, NY. *

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrate ...

Hall of Fame

Professional service

* American Public Health Association *

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

* Consultant, National Advisory Cancer Council, Washington, D.C.

Select publications

* Lombard, Herbert L., and Eleanor Josephine Macdonald. (1931). "State-Aided Cancer Clinics as Seen by the Practicing Physician." New England Journal of Medicine. 205(20): 949–951. * Macdonald, Eleanor J. (February 1936). Fundamentals of Epidemiology. Radcliffe Quarterly. 19–22. * Macdonald, E. J. (1938). Accuracy of the Cancer Death Records. American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health. 28(7): 818–824. * Macdonald, Eleanor J., and Frances A. Macdonald. (1940). "Evaluation of Cancer Control Methodology." American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health. 30(5): 483–490. * Macdonald, Eleanor J. (1948). "Malignant melanoma in Connecticut." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 4: 71. * Macdonald, E. J. (1948). The present incidence and survival picture in cancer and the promise of improved prognosis. Bulletin of American College of Surgeons. * Clark Jr, R. Lee, & Macdonald, E. J. (1949). The University of Texas, MD Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research. Medical woman's journal. 56(8): 34–37. * Clark, R. Lee, & Macdonald, E. J. (1953). The natural history of melanoma in man. Pigment cell growth. 139-148 * Wall, J. A., Fletcher, Gilbert H., & Macdonald, E. J. (1954). Endometrial biopsy as a standard diagnostic technique; a review of 445 cases. The American Journal of Roentgenology, Radium Therapy, and Nuclear Medicine. 71(1): 95. * Macdonald, E. J. (1959). The epidemiology of skin cancer. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 1(9): 522. * Macdonald, E. J. (1963). The epidemiology of melanoma. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 100(1): 4-17. * University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston. Department of Epidemiology, & Macdonald, E. J. (1968). The Survey of Cancer in Texas 1944-1966: Present Status and Results, June 30, 1968. Prepared by Eleanor J. Macdonald and the Staff of the Department of Epidemiology.

References

* * * *

External links

Dr. R. Lee Clark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Eleanor Josephine 1906 births 2007 deaths American centenarians People from Boston American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists Cancer researchers Radcliffe College alumni American cellists American women statisticians Women medical researchers Cancer epidemiologists University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center alumni University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center faculty 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists Harvard School of Public Health alumni Women centenarians 21st-century American women 20th-century cellists