Helen Margaret Ranney (April 12, 1920 – April 5, 2010) was an American

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

and hematologist who made significant contributions to research on

sickle-cell anemia Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red bl ...

Early life

Ranney was born in Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, where her parents ran a dairy farm. Her mother was a teacher and both her parents encouraged her in her studies and pursuing a professional career. She attended a one-room school as a child, and later attended

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

(graduating cum laude in 1941) with initial plans to study law; however, it was here that she decided to study medicine, saying "Medicine attempts to fix what it studies." She initially faced barriers to her continuing a medical education at Columbia, based on her gender, but policy changes during World War II allowed for her admission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons H. Franklin Bunn
"Helen Margaret Ranney: A Woman of Many Firsts"
''The Hematologist'' 5(2)(March–April 2008). at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

Ranney was a professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. She was also a staff physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She was the first woman to serve as president of the

Association of American Physicians The Association of American Physicians (AAP) is an honorary medical society founded in 1885 by the Canadian physician Sir William Osler and six other distinguished physicians of his era for "the advancement of scientific and practical medicine." ...

, and of the American Society of Hematology. She was also one of the first women to be admitted to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and was the first woman honored as a Distinguished Physician of the Veterans Administration. Her research on

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

started in 1953. She was the first to use paper electropheresis for separating human hemoglobin, work which helped in understanding the inheritance of sickle-cell disease. In 1960 she co-founded the heredity clinic at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

. Ranney was a faculty member and the first female head of the department of medicine at the

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine The University of California San Diego School of Medicine is the graduate medical school of the University of California, San Diego. It was the third medical school in the University of California system, after those established at UCSF and UCLA ...

. In 1973, she was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

and the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...

. She was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1975.

Awards, honors, and memberships

* Dr. Ranney was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medical Achievement Award in 1972 for her work with blood disorders, which included the first description of the abnormal blood cell structure and genetic factors linked to sickle cell anemia. * President of Association of American Physicians (the first woman to hold this office). * Distinguished Physician of the Veterans Administration (the first woman so honored). * President of the

American Society of Hematology The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is a professional organization representing hematologists. It was founded in 1958. Its annual meeting is held in December of every year and has attracted more than 30,000 attendees. The society publishes t ...

. * Master of the American College of Physicians. * Elected in 1973 to the Institute of Medicine (now called the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine)

References

External links

H. Franklin Bunn, "Helen M. Ranney", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranney, Helen 1920 births 2010 deaths American hematologists University of California, San Diego faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Medicine Women hematologists Columbia University alumni Barnard College alumni 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women Presidents of the American Society of Hematology