Greta Hammarsten (née Norrbin) (March 22, 1896 – July 17, 1964) was a Swedish medical doctor and a pioneer of clinical chemistry in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

Education and career

Hammarsten was born in the Maria Magdalena parish in Stockholm. She left grammar school early and worked for

Skandia Skandia is a Swedish financial services corporation that provides insurance, banking and asset management services. Between 2006 and 2015, the financial group underwent major changes. From an insurance company with the main emphasis on non-l ...

from 1914 till 1918. From 1919, she started working as an assistant at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...

, where she stayed until 1927. During this time, she also studied microchemical analysis at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

in 1924 and chemistry at the

Carlsberg Laboratory The Carlsberg Research Laboratory is a private scientific research center in Copenhagen, Denmark under the Carlsberg Foundation. It was founded in 1875 by J. C. Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, with the purpose of advancing bioche ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

from 1927 to 1928 and from 1930 to 1931, where she worked for

S. P. L. Sørensen Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen (9 January 1868 – 12 February 1939) was a Denmark, Danish chemist, known for the introduction of the concept of pH, a scale for measuring acidity and Base (chemistry), alkalinity. Personal life Sørensen wa ...

and Kaj Linderstrøm-Lang. She enrolled 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 ...

in 1930 and became a medical licentiate and doctor of medicine in 1940. Her doctoral thesis was titled ''Eine experimentelle Studie über Calciumoxalat als Steinbildner in den Harnwegen : speziell mit Rücksicht auf die Bedeutung des Magnesiums'', in which she examined the formation of

kidney stones Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...

from

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

in the

urinary tract The human urinary system, also known as the urinary tract or renal system, consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra. The purpose of the urinary system is to eliminate waste from the body, regulate blood volume and blood pressu ...

, also known as renal lithiasis. She was an assistant at Lund University's medical-chemical department between 1930 and 1938. She worked at the medical clinic at Lund University between 1938 and 1939 and as an assistant physician at Hässleby sanatorium in 1940. Hammarsten was an associate professor in medical and physiological chemistry at Lund University between 1940 and 1941, in clinical chemistry at the

from 1946 onwards. Hammarsten moved to the Serafimerlasarettet in 1940 and to

Södersjukhuset Södersjukhuset (Sös) is one of the largest district general hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Constructed between 1937 and 1944, it was designed by architects Hjalmar Cederström and Hermann Imhäuser, and the construction was contracted to Toll ...

in Stockholm in 1945, where she served as the director of the central laboratory of clinical chemistry . In this role, she oversaw the expansion of the laboratory and made it a hub for scientific activity within the hospital. Her research interests extended beyond kidney stone diseases to include blood and liver diseases, as well as

Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

. She was also known for her expertise in the field of blood diseases and conducted several experimental physiological studies in collaboration with Swedish and Danish colleagues.

Research

Hammarsten published over 80 papers in physical and

physiological chemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and nutritional physiology. In 1947, Hammarsten published a voluminous guide to clinical chemistry analysis methods (''Kliniska laborationsmetoder''), which became a standard reference for laboratories in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

. This work was updated and expanded in a second edition published in 1955, with contributions from other colleagues. In 1957, an appendix titled "Laboratory Tests" was added to the guide, including chapters on anticoagulation therapy,

fluid balance Fluid balance is an aspect of the homeostasis of organisms in which the amount of water in the organism needs to be controlled, via osmoregulation and behavior, such that the concentrations of electrolytes (salts in solution) in the various body ...

cystinuria Cystinuria is an inherited autosomal recessive disease characterized by high concentrations of the amino acid cystine in the urine, leading to the formation of cystine stones in the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. It is a type of aminoaciduria. ...

, and B12 analysis.

Personal life

Hammarsten married Swedish physician and pharmacist

Einar Hammarsten Einar Hammarsten (4 January 1889 in Norrköping - 16 February 1968 in Solna) was a Swedish physician and professor of pharmacy and chemistry at the Karolinska Institute from 1928 to 1957. His area of research was the chemistry of the cell nucleus ...

in 1918; the marriage ended in 1928. She died in the Kungsholm parish in Stockholm. She was buried at the Northern Cemetery outside Stockholm.

References

{{reflist 1964 deaths 1896 births Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Swedish biochemists University of Graz alumni Lund University alumni Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute Carlsberg Laboratory staff Women biochemists