Una Lucy Fielding (20 May 1888 – 11 August 1969) was an Australian

neuroanatomist Neuroanatomy is the study of the structure and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defin ...

Early life

Una Fielding was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to Anglican clergyman and author Rev. Sydney Glanville Fielding and his wife Lucy Frances (née Johnson). The eldest of six children, Una attended a private school in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

before starting at

St Catherine's School, Waverley St Catherine's School (commonly referred to as ''St Cath's'') is a private Anglican Junior and Senior day and boarding school, located in Waverley, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1856 as a school for t ...

in 1900. In 1907 she won a bursary to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

; after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1910 she spent six years teaching French and English.

Career in medicine

Fielding returned to the University of Sydney to study medicine, completing a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in 1919, then a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Master of Surgery (ChM) in 1922. In 1923 Fielding moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to work as a demonstrator in the department of anatomy at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where she gained a reputation for both her competence and knowledge in the field of practical neurology. She was encouraged to study ''

monotreme Monotremes () are prototherian mammals of the order Monotremata. They are one of the three groups of living mammals, along with placentals (Eutheria), and marsupials (Metatheria). Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brain ...

s (''mammals that lay eggs) by the head of the anatomy department Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, and in 1925 she presented her first paper, on the marsupial mole, to the

Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Anatomical Society (AS), previously known as the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland or ASGBI was founded in London in 1887 to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". The society o ...

. Following a term at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1927, she was appointed Acting Professor of Histology and Neurology at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

from 1928 to 1929. During this time she collaborated on publications with A. S. Parkes and

Francis Brambell Francis William Rogers Brambell (25 February 1901 – 6 June 1970) was an Irish medical scientist who spent all of his professional working life in Britain. Education Brambell was born in Sandycove, Dublin and was educated (1911–1914) at Arav ...

. On returning to London, she worked with Romanian scientist and Rockefeller research fellow

Grigore T. Popa Grigore T. Popa (sometimes Anglicization, Anglicized to Gregor T. Popa; May 1, 1892 – July 18, 1948) was a Romanian physician and public intellectual. Of lowly peasant origin, he managed to obtain a university education and become a profess ...

, discovering the vascular link between the

hypothalamus The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamu ...

and the

pituitary gland In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The ...

. Fielding and Popa published their findings in ''The Lancet'' and the ''Journal of Anatomy.'' From 1928 Fielding's work at UCL included lecturing and teaching in multiple subjects including neurology, and anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. In 1935 Fielding was appointed a Reader in neurological anatomy at UCL.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Una Lucy 1888 births 1969 deaths Academics of University College London American University of Beirut faculty Australian scientists University of Sydney alumni Australian neurologists Women neurologists Australian women neuroscientists University of Michigan people 20th-century women scientists 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women