Thressa Campbell Stadtman (February 12, 1920 – December 11, 2016) was an American biochemist, notable for her discovery of

selenocysteine Selenocysteine (symbol Sec or U, in older publications also as Se-Cys) is the 21st proteinogenic amino acid. Selenoproteins contain selenocysteine residues. Selenocysteine is an analogue of the more common cysteine with selenium in place of the ...

, and her research on

selenoprotein In molecular biology a selenoprotein is any protein that includes a selenocysteine (Sec, U, Se-Cys) amino acid residue. Among functionally characterized selenoproteins are five glutathione peroxidases (GPX) and three thioredoxin reductases, (TrxR/TX ...

s and

bioenergetics Bioenergetics is a field in biochemistry and cell biology that concerns energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of the transformation of energy in living organisms and the study o ...

. In addition she made significant advances in amino acid metabolism, enzymes dependent on vitamin B12, and the biochemistry of microbes.

Life

In 1920, she was born in

Sterling, New York Sterling is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Cayuga County, New York, Cayuga County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,040 at the 2010 census. Located on the shore of Lake Ontario, the town is nam ...

. In 1940, she graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, with a B.S. in Microbiology, and in 1942, with a M.S. in Microbiology and Nutrition. In 1949, she graduated from

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, with a Ph.D. in Microbial Biochemistry. Her thesis was titled "Studies on Methane Fermentations", and subsequently worked as a

postdoc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

for

Christian B. Anfinsen Christian Boehmer Anfinsen Jr. (March 26, 1916 – May 14, 1995) was an American biochemist. He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Stanford Moore and William Howard Stein for work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the co ...

at Harvard Medical School. She was married to

Earl Reece Stadtman Earl Reece Stadtman NAS (November 15, 1919 – January 7, 2008) was an American biochemist, notable for his research on enzymes and anaerobic bacteria. Career Stadtman started his career as a research assistant in the Division of Plant Nutritio ...

whom she met when they were both graduate students at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. They were both hired by what was then the

National Heart Institute The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the third largest Institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is tasked with allocating about $3.6 billion in FY 2020 in tax revenue t ...

in 1950 becoming the first husband-and-wife team at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. They both oversaw their own biochemistry labs and collaborated closely. In 2005, they were both honored by the NIH with an exhibit titled "The Stadtman Way: A Tale of Two Biochemists at NIH." She retired from the NIH in 2009. Over a 60-year period, starting in 1943, she published 212 peer-reviewed papers. Stadtman was elected a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 1981. Stadtman died in December 2016 at the age of 96.

References

External links

Interview
of Thressa C. Stadtman by Buhm Soon Park, January 2001
Vadim N. Gladyshev, P. Boon Chock, and Rodney L. Levine, "Thressa C. Stadtman", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2020)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadtman, Theresa 1920 births 2016 deaths Cornell University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of California, Berkeley alumni American women biochemists 21st-century American women People from Sterling, New York Graduate Women in Science members