Dora Elisabeth Jacobsohn (1908–1983) was a German-Swedish

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

and

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

. Considered one of the early pioneers of the field of

neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

, she is best known for her work with Geoffrey Harris showing that the

anterior pituitary gland The anterior pituitary (also called the adenohypophysis or pars anterior) is a major organ of the endocrine system. The anterior pituitary is the glandular, anterior lobe that together with the posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) makes up ...

is controlled by the

hypothalamus The hypothalamus (: hypothalami; ) is a small part of the vertebrate brain that contains a number of nucleus (neuroanatomy), nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrin ...

via the

hypophyseal portal system The hypophyseal portal system is a system of blood vessels in the microcirculation at the base of the brain, connecting the hypothalamus with the anterior pituitary. Its main function is to quickly transport and exchange hormones between the hyp ...

Biography

Jacobsohn was born in Berlin in 1908. She earned her M.D. in Germany in 1933, but she was not allowed to practice medicine in Germany because she was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. Fleeing

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, Jacobsohn moved to Sweden in 1934, where she had family. There, she met Axel Westman at the

Uppsala University Hospital Uppsala University Hospital ('', often referred to colloquially as "Akademiska" or "Ackis"'') in Uppsala, Sweden, is a teaching hospital for the Uppsala University Faculty of Medicine and the Nursing School. Uppsala University Hospital is owned and ...

, who permitted her to observe and assist in his endocrinological research on ovulation and reproduction in hypophysectomized (pituitary removed) animals. Although Jacobsohn was not permitted to do research as she was a foreigner without a Swedish degree, she worked with Westman at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

and ran clinical hormone assays for the hospital. Nonetheless, she published over 22 research papers during this 10 year collaboration. In 1944, she gained Swedish citizenship and in 1948, a Swedish medical degree, with a thesis on mammary gland development. This allowed her to finally become a professor at Lund University. In 1952, the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund changed their rules to accept women, and she was elected a society Fellow. In 1964, she was promoted to Director of Experimental Endocrinology at Lund University. Jacobsohn never married, and died in 1983 after a nearly year-long coma due to a traffic accident.

Research contributions

In collaboration with Geoffrey Harris at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Jacobsohn performed a series of elegant transplantation experiments, showing that pituitary grafts could only stimulate ovulation when in connection with the hypothalamus / mid brain, not the temporal lobe or other parts of the body. This first showed that the anterior pituitary must be controlled by, and in contact with, the brain via the hypothalamus. Further, they showed that the blood vessels (via the hypophyseal portal system), rather than nervous stimulation, was necessary for stimulating the anterior pituitary. This work founded the brain's role in hormonal regulation, helping to establish the field of

. She also did work showing that the

posterior pituitary The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland which is part of the endocrine system. Unlike the anterior pituitary, the posterior pituitary is not glandular, but largely a collection of axonal projec ...

is required for milk ejection, later discovered to be mediated by the hormone

oxytocin Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. Present in animals since early stages of evolution, in humans it plays roles in behavior that include Human bonding, ...

. Later in her career, she studied the effects of androgens and sex steroids on sexual development in rodents.

Biography

Research contributions

References

Further reading