Barbara Illingworth Brown was an American biochemist. She worked primarily at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Education and career

Brown was born in Hartford, Connecticut and later moved to Pennsylvania when her father's job in insurance moved the family. Brown graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

in 1946. She worked with Jane Anne Russell at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and received her PhD in physiological chemistry in 1950. Following her Ph.D., Brown applied to work with the Nobel Prize-winner

Gerty Cori Gerty Theresa Cori (; August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was a Bohemian-Austrian and American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Me ...

and became a Research Associate Professor of Biochemistry at

Washington University School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a ca ...

and Established Investigator of the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

. She later also worked with Cori's husband and fellow Nobel Prize winner

Carl Ferdinand Cori Carl Ferdinand Cori, ForMemRS (December 5, 1896 – October 20, 1984) was a Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist. He, together with his wife Gerty Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in 1947 for th ...

. She retired in 1989. Brown served on the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council 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 ...

from 1972 to 1974. She was awarded the

Wilbur Cross Medal The Wilbur Cross Medal, or Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal for Alumni Achievement, is an award by the Yale University Graduate School Alumni Association to recognize "...distinguished achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and p ...

from Yale in 1983.

Research

Her work was primarily devoted to the biochemistry of inherited metabolic diseases. She investigated the structure of

glycogen Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, fungi, and bacteria. It is the main storage form of glucose in the human body. Glycogen functions as one of three regularly used forms ...

and

amylopectin Amylopectin is a water-insoluble polysaccharide and highly branched polymer of α-glucose units found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. Plants store starch within specialized organelles called amyloplas ...

s, and defined the pathway and mechanisms of

phosphorylase In biochemistry, phosphorylases are enzymes that catalyze the addition of a phosphate group from an inorganic phosphate (phosphate+hydrogen) to an acceptor. :A-B + P A + P-B They include allosteric enzymes that catalyze the production of glu ...

enzymes. Her research included the discovery of enzymes in a previously unknown pathway to process glycogen. She went on to research diseases related to the storage of glycogen where these enzymes were absent. She applied some of Carl Cori's findings to medical cases, and confirmed the second known case of

fructose bisphosphatase deficiency In fructose bisphosphatase deficiency, there is not enough fructose bisphosphatase for gluconeogenesis to occur correctly. Glycolysis (the breakdown of glucose) will still work, as it does not use this enzyme. History The first known description ...

, a rare metabolic disorder, in 1970. She played a similar role in therapeutic research into

glycogen storage disease type I Glycogen storage disease type I (GSD I) is an inherited disease that prevents the liver from properly breaking down stored glycogen, which is necessary to maintain adequate blood sugar levels. GSD I is divided into two main types, GSD Ia and GSD ...

Personal life

Her husband, David H. Brown, was also a scientist and they collaborated on research on polysaccharide synthesis and glycogen storage diseases.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Barbara Illingworth 20th-century American chemists 1924 births 2016 deaths American women biochemists Chemists from Pennsylvania Chemists from Connecticut Smith College alumni Washington University School of Medicine faculty Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni