Jacqueline Jia-Kang Whang-Peng (; born September 1932) is a Taiwanese-American

physician-scientist A physician-scientist (in North American English) or clinician-scientist (in British English and Australian English) is a physician who divides their professional time between direct clinical practice with patients and scientific research. Physicia ...

specialized in

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

of cancer, as well as

medical genetics Medical genetics is the branch of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Medical genetics differs from human genetics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to me ...

, genetic

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

, and

gene mapping Gene mapping or genome mapping describes the methods used to identify the location of a gene on a chromosome and the distances between genes. Gene mapping can also describe the distances between different sites within a gene. The essence of all ...

. She was a researcher at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

from 1960 to 1993.

Early life and education

Jacqueline Jia-Kang Whang-Peng was born in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

. Whang-Peng completed a M.D. from

Taipei Medical University Taipei Medical University (TMU; ) in Taiwan is located in Taipei's Xinyi District. Founded as Taipei Medical College in 1960, it was renamed as Taipei Medical University in 2000. TMU has expanded into a university with ten colleges, 6,000 stud ...

in 1956. From 1955 to 1957, she was an intern and fixed intern in surgery at the

National Taiwan University Hospital The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH; ) is a medical facility located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. It started operations under Japanese rule in Daitōtei (today's Dadaocheng) on 18 June 1895, and moved to its present ...

. She was at

New England Hospital The New England Hospital for Women and Children was founded by Marie Zakrzewska on July 1, 1862. The hospital's goal was to provide patients with competent female physicians, educate women in the study of medicine, and train nurses to care for ...

as an intern resident and chief resident in surgery. She then served a residency at Quincy City Hospital in pathology and at

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) is a short-stay hospital in Washington, D.C. affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 2022, the hospital has been wholly owned and operated ...

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

before joining 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 ...

(NIH) in 1960.

Career

Whang-Peng joined the medicine branch of the

(NCI) in 1960. By 1968, she was a senior investigator in the NCI's clinical trial area. In 1972, she was a senior investigator in NCI's Human Tumor Cell Biology Branch, where she conducted cytogenetic research aimed at explaining cellular control mechanisms in human cancer. Whang-Peng has been recognized for her work in cytogenetics by investigators all over the world. She published more than 200

scientific articles Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

. Whang-Peng has instructed a number of senior professionals in this field. In 1972, she was associate editor of the ''

Journal of the National Cancer Institute The ''Journal of the National Cancer Institute'' (''JNCI'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research in oncology that was established in August 1940. It is published monthly by Oxford University Press and is edited by Patricia A. Gan ...

''. As of 1993, Whang-Peng has served on the editorial board of the journal ''Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer'' since 1989. Whang-Peng is a member of the Reticuloendothelial Society,

American Society of Hematology The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is a professional organization representing hematologists, founded in 1958. Its annual meeting is held in December of every year and has attracted more than 30,000 attendees. The society publishes the medi ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

, and the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences. Whang-Peng was chief of the cytogenetic oncology section in the NCI's Medicine Branch when she retired on December 31, 1993. She returned to Taiwan to help in

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s in liver and

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

Research

In collaboration with

Joe Hin Tjio Joe Hin Tjio (; 2 November 1919 – 27 November 2001), was an Indonesian-born American cytogeneticist. He was renowned as the first person to recognize the normal number of human chromosomes on 22 December 1955 at the Institute of Genetics of t ...

of the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, she developed a technique for t he preparation of mammalian cells for the study of their chromosome complement. This technique is now utilized by many investigators and is considered responsible for much of the progress that has been made in the area. She was the primary consultant to other NIH investigators on diseases of inborn errors of metabolism and in diseases with inherited or congenital abnormalities. She devoted a good deal of her time to research on the kinetics and biology of leukemia cells. Whang-Peng showed that immature leukemic blood leukocytes are capable of maturing and differentiating in tissue culture and that these cells are capable of phagocytosis. Her studies have important implications in understanding leukemia and in treating patients with this disease. Her research interests center on determining cytogenetic differences between cancerous and normal cells, as well as

, genetic

, and

. Her studies of the

Burkitt lymphoma Burkitt's lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, particularly B lymphocytes found in the germinal center. It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, the Irish surgeon who first described the disease in 1958 while working in equatorial Africa ...

have revealed the presence of a specific chromosome alteration in both the cells from the original tumor and in tumor cells after culture.

Awards and honors

Whang-Peng was honored by the

Lions Clubs International Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo) in more than 200 geographic ...

and the ''China Daily News''. In 1968, Whang-Peng was named Woman of the Year in medicine by the Republic of China for her work in malignant cell biology an chromosomes in human malignancy. Her award was presented by former Vice Premier

Wang Yun-wu Wang Yun-wu (; ; July 9, 1888 – August 14, 1979) was an influential Chinese publisher, politician, and scholar of history and political science. He invented the ''Shih Chiao Hao Ma'', a method of Chinese lexicography also sometimes referred t ...

. In 1972, Whang-Peng was one of the first two women to receive the Arthur S. Flemming Award. She was elected a member of

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

in 1984. Whang-Peng received scientific awards from the Chinese American Medical Society (1985),

Organization of Chinese Americans OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates (previously known as the Organization of Chinese Americans) is a non-profit organization founded in 1973, whose stated mission is to advance the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans a ...

(1989); and a PHS Commendation Award in 1989.

Personal life

Whang-Peng became a U.S. citizen in June 1970. She is married to George Peng, a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

. They have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whang-Peng, Jacqueline Living people Scientists from Suzhou Physicians from Jiangsu 20th-century Taiwanese scientists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians Taiwanese women physicians Taiwanese women scientists Taiwanese people from Jiangsu National Institutes of Health people American people of Taiwanese descent American medical researchers Taiwanese medical researchers Women medical researchers Cancer researchers Taipei Medical University alumni Naturalized citizens of the United States 1932 births Members of Academia Sinica