Charlotte Morrison Anderson (20 March 1915 – 15 April 2002) was an Australian scientist, physician and academic. She pioneered the field of paediatric gastroenterology working on health issues including

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder inherited in an autosomal recessive manner that impairs the normal clearance of Sputum, mucus from the lungs, which facilitates the colonization and infection of the lungs by bacteria, notably ''Staphy ...

and

coeliac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine. Patients develop intolerance to gluten, which is present in foods such as wheat, rye, spelt ...

. She was the first woman professor of

paediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Anderson was born on 20 March 1915 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. She attended high school in the city, going onto study science at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, graduating with honours in 1936. The following year she completed a Masters of Science. For several years she worked as a research scientist before returning to university to study medicine, graduating in 1945 with honours. In 1955 became a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, 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 ph ...

from the University of Melbourne with the thesis entitled "Diagnosis, Aetiology and Treatment of Coeliac Disease".

Career

After working in hospitals in Melbourne, she travelled to England in 1950 aboard a ship, employed as the ship's doctor. She worked as a research fellow with Sir Wilfrid Sheldon at

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS F ...

researching

, then

Institute of Child Health The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH) is an academic department of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1946 and together ...

, Birmingham working with Alistair Frazer and Jack French who were studying fat absorption in the disease. Their work identified that the gluten in flour had a harmful effect on fat absorption in children with coeliac disease. Anderson returned to Australia in 1953 to continue her research, taking up a position as a senior researcher at Melbourne's

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

. While there she started Australia's first cystic fibrosis clinic. She led a team of researchers who worked on intestinal malabsorption in children. In 1958 she developed a test that accurately diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, and a technique for biopsying the small intestines of children. In 1961, she discovered an "Unusual causes of

steatorrhea Steatorrhea (or steatorrhoea) is the presence of excess fat in Human feces, feces. Stools may be bulky and difficult to flush, have a pale and oily appearance, and can be especially foul-smelling. An oily anal leakage or some level of fecal incon ...

in infancy" which was later identified as the

chylomicron retention disease Chylomicron retention disease is a disorder of fat absorption. It is associated with SAR1B. Mutations in SAR1B prevent the release of chylomicrons in the circulation which leads to nutritional and developmental problems. It is a rare autosomal ...

which also bears her name (Anderson's disease) She studied the role of

gluten Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain Cereal, cereal grains. The term ''gluten'' usually refers to the elastic network of a wheat grain's proteins, gliadin and glutenin primarily, that forms readily with the addition of water ...

in coeliac disease and worked to develop gluten-free diets. Anderson was the first woman professor of paediatrics in the United Kingdom. She was appointed Leonard Parsons Professor of Paediatrics at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Medical School in 1968 and remained there until 1980, when she returned to Melbourne, her place of birth.

Awards and recognition

In recognition of her contribution to medicine, Anderson received several fellowships and awards. *Fellow,

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

(1967) * Fellow,

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

(1971) * Fellow,

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

(1975) * Fellow,

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, often referred to as the RCPCH, is the professional body for paediatricians (doctors specialising in child health) in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the postgraduate training of pa ...

(1996) * Member,

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, for services to medicine (1997)

References

External links

Anderson, Charlotte Morrison (1915-2002)
unimelb.edu.au; accessed 30 September 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Charlotte 1915 births 2002 deaths Academics of the University of Birmingham Members of the Order of Australia Academics from Melbourne Melbourne Medical School alumni 20th-century Australian women scientists Australian paediatricians Australian women paediatricians Medical doctors from Melbourne Australian women medical researchers 20th-century Australian scientists Australian fellows of the Royal College of Physicians