Janet McCredie (1935–2023) was an Australian

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

who originated the theory of

Neural Crest Injury In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes t ...

as being the pathogenesis of congenital malformations of the thalidomide type. She was also one of the instigators of BreastScreen NSW.

Biography

McCredie was born in

Campsie, New South Wales Campsie is a suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campsie is 11 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district, on the southern bank of the Cooks River. Campsie is one of the administrative centres of the City of Ca ...

on 14 March 1935 to Marjorie Dalgarno, a pioneering radiologist, while her father was obstetrician. She studied medicine in the 1950s at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating in 1959, and then undertook postgraduate studies in radiology in the UK. She chose to specialise in radiology, the same field as her mother, and worked as a radiologist at the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

, Sydney from 1965 to 1972. In 1970, about 10 years after

thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is an oral administered medication used to treat a number of cancers (e.g., multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and many skin disorders (e.g., complication ...

was withdrawn from sale, McCredie was asked whether X-rays could help determine who were true thalidomide victims entitled to compensation from the manufacturer. During her investigations, she observed the way in which thalidomide caused malformations and also discovered a new mechanism of embryogenesis. Her findings were published in ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

'' in 1973. From 1975, McCredie was a Senior Lecturer in Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Sydney, at the same time undertaking a PhD, titled "Neural crest defects : a radiological study of certain congenital malformations". She was promoted to Associate Professor of Radiology in 1980. During the 1980s, she played a crucial role in introducing

mammography Mammography (also called mastography; DICOM modality: MG) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cance ...

as a method for early detection of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, an idea initially advocated by her mother. In 1994, she was appointed a

Member of the 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 "service to medicine, particularly radiology, and the study of congenital abnormalities of the limbs of newborn babies". McCredie's book, '' Beyond Thalidomide: Birth Defects Explained,'' was published by the Royal Society of Medicine Press in 2007. McCredie died on 13 July 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCredie, Janet 1935 births 2023 deaths Women radiologists Australian radiologists Members of the Order of Australia University of Sydney alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney