Martha Wollstein (November 21, 1868 – September 30, 1939) was an American physician. Wollstein was born in

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to a

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Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish family.

Biography

Wollstein was educated at the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary, which became part of the

Cornell University Medical School The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York (state), New York. Weill Cornell Medicine is af ...

in 1909. There she studied with

Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi (August 31, 1842 – June 10, 1906) was an esteemed American medical physician, teacher, scientist, writer, and suffragist. She was the first woman to study medicine at the University of Paris, and had a long career pr ...

, with whom she would later publish her first paper in 1902, on a myosarcoma of the

uterus The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The uter ...

. After graduating in 1890, Wollstein joined the Babies Hospital in New York, where she became a pathologist in 1892. Her work there included research on infant

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, and

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

. In 1904, she was invited by

Simon Flexner Simon Flexner, M.D. (March 25, 1863 in Louisville, Kentucky – May 2, 1946) was a physician, scientist, administrator, and professor of experimental pathology at the University of Pennsylvania (1899–1903). He served as the first director of t ...

to join the

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classi ...

as an assistant researcher, though she continued to work at the Babies Hospital even after this. At the Rockefeller Institute she did experimental work on polio, studied pneumonia, and helped to develop an antimeningitis serum. In a study published in the

Journal of the American Medical Association ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of bio ...

in 1918, she made an important contribution to the study of

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...

, by indicating that the disease could be viral in nature, which she showed by transmitting the disease "using a filtrated preparation from mumps patients to cats and from cats to other cats. She did not make any special claims for her research, though, and others received credit in the 1930s for identifying the virus and transmitting it from humans to monkeys." From 1921 until her retirement in 1935, Wollstein continued her research on various children's diseases at the Babies Hospital, including tuberculosis and

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. In 1930 she was made a member of the

American Pediatric Society The American Pediatric Society (APS) is the first pediatric society established in North America. Created in 1888, the APS pursues a vision of an engaged, inclusive, and impactful community of pediatric thought leaders. The APS mission is to sha ...

, as the first woman ever. She published eighty scientific papers during her career. She was a quiet woman, some said shy, and sometimes called difficult to work with, but she was known to have collaborated closely with a wide range of researchers both male and female. After her retirement she moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. When she fell ill she moved back to New York, where she died on September 30, 1939, at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Select publications

*"A Biological Study of the Cerebro-Spinal Fluid in Anterior Poliomyletis." ''Journal of Experimental Medicine'' 10 (1908), pp. 476–83 *"The History of Women in Medicine." ''The Woman's Medical Journal'' 18 (1908), pp. 65–69 *"An Immunological Study Bacillus Influenzae." ''Journal of Experimental Medicine'' 22 (1915), pp. 445–56 *"An Experimental Study of Parotitis (Mumps)." ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' 71 (1918), pp. 639–44 *"Studies on the Phenomenon of D'Herelle with Bacillus Dysenteria." ''Journal of Experimental Medicine'' 34 (1921), pp. 467–76 *"A Study of Tuberculosis in Infants and Young Children." ''American Journal of Diseases of Children'' 21 (1921), pp. 48–56

External links

* Articles about Wollstein in the ''Journal of Medical Biography'' and ''Pediatric Developmental Pathology''. * Obituary in ''JAMA Pediatrics''. * Entry at th
Jewish Women's Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wollstein, Martha 1868 births 1939 deaths Physicians from New York City American women physicians American pediatricians Women pediatricians