Wright, Jane Cooke (1919-2013), was an African American physician and educator known for her research on chemotherapy, the use of drugs to treat cancer. She conducted important studies on the ability of certain drugs to kill cancer cells within the body. Wright’s research showed that, while some drugs could kill cancer cells grown in test tubes, the drugs were not always effective when given to patients with cancer. By testing the action of different drugs on cancerous tumors, Wright was able to determine which drugs would be most effective. She also studied different methods of administering chemotherapy to make anticancer drugs more effective.
Wright was born on Nov. 30, 1919, in New York City to a distinguished family of physicians. She studied biology at Smith College, graduating in 1942. She received a scholarship to study at the New York Medical College, where she received her M.D. with honors in 1945.
In 1949, Wright took a position as a researcher at the Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Foundation, which her father had established in 1948. She became director of the foundation in 1952. In 1955, she joined the New York University Medical Center as director of the cancer chemotherapy research department. In 1967, she became a professor at the New York Medical College, where she developed a program for the study of cancer, heart disease, and stroke. She retired in 1987. Wright died on Feb. 19, 2013.
See also Cancer (Drug therapy) ; Chemotherapy .
