Gabriella Morreale de Escobar (19304 December 2017) was an Italian-born Spanish

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

who specialised in the

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

. She and her husband showed that thyroid hormones cross the placenta during pregnancy and are essential for fetal brain development. She established a national

newborn screening Newborn screening (NBS) is a public health program of screening in infants shortly after birth for conditions that are treatable, but not clinically evident in the newborn period. The goal is to identify infants at risk for these conditions earl ...

program for

congenital hypothyroidism Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is thyroid hormone deficiency present at birth. If untreated for several months after birth, severe congenital hypothyroidism can lead to growth failure and permanent intellectual disability. Infants born with cong ...

in Spain and helped to introduce iodised salt to prevent thyroid problems caused by iodine deficiency.

Biography

Morreale was born in 1930 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy. Her father, Eugenio Morreale, was a Sicilian biologist and diplomat, and her mother, Emilia de Castro, was a biologist and a curator for the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Milan Natural History Museum). She attended schools in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria and

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, United States, before finishing the Baccalaureate in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Spain. She studied chemistry at the

University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apar ...

, earning a doctoral degree. Her doctoral thesis showed that the incidence of

endemic goitre Endemic goiter is a type of goitre that is associated with dietary iodine deficiency. Cause Some inland areas where soil and water lacks in iodine compounds and consumption of marine foods is low are known for higher incidence of goitre. In such ...

in the Alpujarras region was closely linked to iodine deficiency. In 1953, she married Francisco Escobar del Rey, with whom she would collaborate for the rest of her scientific career. Morreale and Escobar travelled to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, the Netherlands, to perform post-doctoral research on

thyroid hormone File:Thyroid_system.svg, upright=1.5, The thyroid system of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 rect 376 268 820 433 Thyroid-stimulating hormone rect 411 200 849 266 Thyrotropin-releasing hormone rect 297 168 502 200 Hypothalamus rect 66 216 386 25 ...

metabolism using radioisotopes of

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

. They returned to Spain in 1958 and began working in the

Spanish National Research Council The Spanish National Research Council ( es, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote res ...

. From 1963 to 1975, she led the thyroid studies division of the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute in Madrid. In 1974, Morreale and Escobar became employed by the Autonomous University of Madrid, where they co-founded the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomedicas. Morreale's early research demonstrated through animal studies that thyroxine (T4) is converted to

triiodothyronine Triiodothyronine, also known as T3, is a thyroid hormone. It affects almost every physiological process in the body, including growth and development, metabolism, body temperature, and heart rate. Production of T3 and its prohormone thyroxine ( ...

(T3), and she developed sensitive radioimmunoassays for the detection of T3 and T4. She showed that, in pregnant women, maternal thyroid hormones are transferred via the

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mater ...

to the fetus and maternal-fetal transfer of T4 is important for fetal brain development. She implemented a national

program for

in Spain and her research led to the introduction of iodised salt in Spain to prevent endemic goitre caused by iodine deficiency. Morreale was a co-founder of the European Thyroid Association and served as its president from 1978 to 1980. She was awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine from the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...

in 2001 and became an honorary member of the

European Society of Endocrinology The European Society of Endocrinology (ESE) is a scientific society to promote for the public benefit research, education and clinical practice in endocrinology by the organisation of conferences, training courses and publications, by raising pu ...

in 2008. She died on 4 December 2017 at 87 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morreale de Escobar, Gabriella 1930 births 2017 deaths Spanish chemists Spanish women chemists Spanish medical researchers Italian emigrants to Spain University of Granada alumni University of Alcalá alumni Academic staff of the Autonomous University of Madrid