Jeanne A. Smith (1931 – 2006) was a former administrator at Harlem Hospital Center and an expert 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 blo ...

who helped put in place federal guidelines for testing newborns for sickle cell anemia.

Biography

Smith was born in Manhattan. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and earned her medical degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1957. Later, she also received a master's degree in public health from

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 ...

. Smith joined Harlem Hospital in 1968 and served as the president of its medical board between 1984 and 1987. She also served as director of its sickle cell center and taught at Columbia. Smith led several

National Institute of Health 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 1 ...

-funded studies throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s on sickle cell anemia and related diseases. In the 1970s, she ran a NIH study that followed the growth and development of primarily black patients with sickle cell anemia from infancy through adulthood. The study became an important metric for gauging the severity of the disease over time. In 1993, Smith was co-chairman of a panel that called for more intensive screening for infants of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and South American descent. This panel also recommended vaccinations and antibiotic treatments for infants with the disease, and these guidelines were accepted by the

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...

, and were widely adopted. Smith also served as the president of

Englewood, NJ Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

's Board of Education in the 1970s and president of its Board of Health in the 1980s.

References

2006 deaths American hematologists Women medical researchers New York University people Sarah Lawrence College alumni Columbia University faculty 1931 births Women hematologists 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians American medical researchers American women academics 21st-century American women {{US-physician-stub