Eleanor Josephine Macdonald (4 March 1906 – 26 July 2007) was a pioneer American

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone ...

and cancer researcher influenced and

mentor Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

ed by

Edwin Bidwell Wilson Edwin Bidwell Wilson (April 25, 1879 – December 28, 1964) was an American mathematician, statistician, physicist and general polymath. He was the sole protégé of Yale University physicist Josiah Willard Gibbs and was mentor to MIT economist ...

and

Shields Warren Shields Warren (February 26, 1898 – July 1, 1980) was an American pathologist. He was among the first to study the pathology of radioactive fallout.disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

. She established the first

cancer registry A cancer registry is a systematic collection of data about cancer and tumor diseases. The data are collected by Cancer Registrars. Cancer Registrars capture a complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, treatment, and status for every cancer ...

in the United States in Connecticut.

Life and times

Eleanor Josephine Macdonald the daughter of Angus Alexander and Catherine Macdonald was born in the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

suburb of West

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, in 1906. She died in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, in 2007. Angus Alexander, whose family had come from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, was an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

at A.T. & T. and Catharine Boland Macdonald, whose family were of

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

descent was a

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to ...

. She attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

and graduated in 1928 with A.B. degrees in

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. For 4 years following graduation, she performed as a professional

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Epidemiology career

Robert B. Greenough,

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, chairman of the Cancer Committee in Massachusetts, and friend of the family asked Macdonald for assistance in writing a research paper on cystic mastitis. This led her to become an

. Macdonald studied the fundamentals of

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

and

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

at Harvard University School of Public Health. At Harvard she worked with

who tutored her in statistical approaches and the

Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who a ...

methods Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...

. Macdonald was then appointed as the

Epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone ...

in Boston's State Cancer Program at the Division of Adult Hygiene for director Dr. Herbert L. Lombard. She was an early adopter of the new computer technology that became available to researchers. Since about 1930 Macdonald worked with

Remington Rand Remington Rand, Inc. was an early American business machine manufacturer, originally a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers. Formed in 1927 following a merger, Remington ...

punch cards. From 1940 to 1948 she worked for the Connecticut State Department of Health as

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

. Then to Memorial Hospital in New York. Macdonald was asked by Dr. Thomas Parran, Jr.,

U.S. Surgeon General The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. T ...

to set up a national cancer registry as she had done in Connecticut. In 1948 her work in Connecticut led to publishing the seminal work "The Incidence and Survival in Cancer". After this she went on to M.D. Anderson Hospital in

. Her work in New England caught the attention of Dr. R. Lee Clark who recruited her to be the head of the newly created Department of

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute. In 1948 she went to Houston to become

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at MD Anderson. During her tenure she developed a 200-code (referred to as the anticipatory code) method for transcribing patient charts that provided statistical information to M. D. Anderson's physicians and researchers. In 1982 Macdonald retired from MD Anderson and from 1974 continued to serve as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

. She died at home in Houston, Texas on 26 July 2007.

Awards and honors

* Honorary member, Statistical consultant,

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...

* Honorary member,

American Radium Society The American Radium Society is a medical association devoted to the study and treatment of cancer. It was founded in 1916. The Society's original mission was to further "the scientific study of radium in relation to its physical properties and the ...

* Honorary member,

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including Basic research, basic, ...

* Myron Gordon Award, 1972 (for contributions to understanding the role of race, sex and sun exposure to

malignant melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

) * Outstanding Service Award,

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

, 1973 * Distinguished Service Award, M.D. Anderson Cancer CenterRodriguez, M. Alma, Walters, R.S., Burke, T.W. (Eds). (2013). 60 Years of Survival Outcomes at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Springer. . New York, NY. *

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a List of neighborhoods in Houston, neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States. It is immediately south of the Houston Museum District, Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 6 ...

Hall of Fame

Professional service

American Public Health Association The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

* Consultant, National Advisory Cancer Council, Washington, D.C.

Select publications

* Lombard, Herbert L., and Eleanor Josephine Macdonald. (1931). "State-Aided Cancer Clinics as Seen by the Practicing Physician." New England Journal of Medicine. 205(20): 949–951. * Macdonald, Eleanor J. (February 1936). Fundamentals of Epidemiology. Radcliffe Quarterly. 19–22. * Macdonald, E. J. (1938). Accuracy of the Cancer Death Records. American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health. 28(7): 818–824. * Macdonald, Eleanor J., and Frances A. Macdonald. (1940). "Evaluation of Cancer Control Methodology." American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health. 30(5): 483–490. * Macdonald, Eleanor J. (1948). "Malignant melanoma in Connecticut." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 4: 71. * Macdonald, E. J. (1948). The present incidence and survival picture in cancer and the promise of improved prognosis. Bulletin of American College of Surgeons. * Clark Jr, R. Lee, & Macdonald, E. J. (1949). The University of Texas, MD Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research. Medical woman's journal. 56(8): 34–37. * Clark, R. Lee, & Macdonald, E. J. (1953). The natural history of melanoma in man. Pigment cell growth. 139-148 * Wall, J. A., Fletcher, Gilbert H., & Macdonald, E. J. (1954). Endometrial biopsy as a standard diagnostic technique; a review of 445 cases. The American Journal of Roentgenology, Radium Therapy, and Nuclear Medicine. 71(1): 95. * Macdonald, E. J. (1959). The epidemiology of skin cancer. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 1(9): 522. * Macdonald, E. J. (1963). The epidemiology of melanoma. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 100(1): 4-17. * University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston. Department of Epidemiology, & Macdonald, E. J. (1968). The Survey of Cancer in Texas 1944-1966: Present Status and Results, June 30, 1968. Prepared by Eleanor J. Macdonald and the Staff of the Department of Epidemiology.

References

* * * *

External links

Dr. R. Lee Clark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Eleanor Josephine 1906 births 2007 deaths Academics from Boston American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists Radcliffe College alumni American women statisticians American women medical researchers Cancer epidemiologists University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center alumni University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center faculty 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni American women centenarians 21st-century American women 20th-century American cellists