Katherine Anne Squibb ( Sprague; May 10, 1949 – August 18, 2018) was an American

toxicologist Toxicology is a scientific discipline (academia), discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnos ...

who specialized in

metal toxicity Metal toxicity or metal poisoning is the toxic effect of certain metals that accumulate in the environment and damage ecosystems, plants and animals, including human health. Environmental pollution with heavy metals can result in contaminati ...

. She was a faculty member at the

University of Maryland School of Medicine The University of Maryland School of Medicine (abbreviated UMSOM), located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S., is the medical school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center and ...

and served as co-director of the

University System of Maryland The University System of Maryland (USM) is a public university system in the U.S. state of Maryland. The system is composed of the eleven campuses at College Park, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Princess Anne, Towson, Salisbury, Bowie, Frost ...

's graduate program in toxicology.

Life

Katherine Anne Sprague was born May 10, 1949, in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

and his wife, Margarete Hardegen Sprague. Raised in the

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

section of

South Brunswick, New Jersey South Brunswick is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region and is an outer-ring subur ...

, Squibb graduated from South Brunswick High School. She majored in biochemistry at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, graduating in 1971. Squibb married fellow toxicologist on August 21, 1971. Squibb completed a master's and Ph.D. (1977) in biochemistry at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Her dissertation was titled ''Control of hepatic metallothionein synthesis by zinc and cadmium''. She was a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

at the

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) conducts research into the effects of the environment on human disease, as one of the 27 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is located in the Rese ...

. In 1984, Squibb joined the New York University Medical Center's Institute of Environmental Medicine. In 1993, she joined the department of medicine at the

. She worked as the co-director of the

's graduate program in toxicology. She led research on

"and metabolism elucidated ways in which metals such as cadmium, lead, and depleted uranium target specific organ systems." In the fall of 2015, She received the achievement graduate education award from the University of Maryland's graduate program in life sciences. Widowed since 2016, Squibb died on August 18, 2018, in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

, of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. She was survived by daughter Elizabeth Wohler, son Michael Squibb, and grandsons, Flynn Scott Wohler and Everett Michael Wohler.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Squibb, Katherine 1949 births 2018 deaths People from New Brunswick, New Jersey People from South Brunswick, New Jersey Scientists from New Jersey University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Rutgers University alumni South Brunswick High School (New Jersey) alumni New York University faculty University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty American toxicologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Maryland