Cecilia Lutwak-Mann (1900(?)-1987) was a Polish-British endocrinologist and

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

Career

She was educated at the

University of Lviv The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

(now in Ukraine), where she obtained a doctorate of medicine. She studied the

menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs a ...

cellular respiration Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidised in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor such as oxygen to produce large amounts of energy, to drive the bulk production of ATP. Cellular respiration may be des ...

, and

embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...

, and served as chief scientific officer of the

Agricultural Research Council The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture. History The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...

of Great Britain. Lutwak-Mann was known for discovering that the hormone

progesterone Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the m ...

acts on the

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mater ...

to control

carbonic anhydrase The carbonic anhydrases (or carbonate dehydratases) () form a family of enzymes that catalyze the interconversion between carbon dioxide and water and the dissociated ions of carbonic acid (i.e. bicarbonate and hydrogen ions). The active site ...

synthesis. She also co-authored the then-reference text on male reproductive function and

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...

("Male Reproductive Function and Semen: Themes and Trends in Physiology, Biochemistry and Investigative Andrology", 1981) with

Thaddeus Mann Thaddeus Robert Rudolph Mann CBE FRS (4 December 1908 – 27 November 1993) was a biochemist who made significant contributions to the field of reproductive biology. Mann was born in Lwow, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) and was educated at Lwow ...

Personal life

Lutwak-Mann married Thaddeus Mann, in 1934, after they met in medical school. She was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and moved to Britain in 1935 to continue her research at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. She died in 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutwak-Mann, Cecilia Year of birth uncertain 1987 deaths Polish women scientists Women physiologists Women endocrinologists British endocrinologists Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom British physiologists 20th-century Polish scientists 20th-century British scientists 20th-century British women scientists University of Lviv alumni 20th-century Polish women