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37 Facts About Eloise Giblett

1.

Eloise "Elo" R Giblett was an American genetic scientist and hematologist who discovered the first recognized immunodeficiency disease, adenosine deaminase deficiency.

2.

Eloise Giblett was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1980.

3.

Eloise Giblett identified and characterized numerous blood group antigens.

4.

Eloise Giblett's work paved the way for safe red blood cell transfusions.

5.

Eloise Giblett applied her understanding of red blood cell protein polymorphisms to genetic linkage analyses, was senior author on the paper that demonstrated the feasibility of unrelated marrow transplantation for leukemia, and was an early supporter of bone marrow donation.

6.

Eloise Giblett's family moved to Spokane, Washington for her father's job as an insurance salesman.

7.

Eloise Giblett received her early education in Spokane and was trained in singing, dancing and the violin.

8.

Eloise Giblett's Mother, Rose, held a secret desire that Giblett would become the next Shirley Temple of the era.

9.

Eloise Giblett graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1938.

10.

Eloise Giblett was only 16 when she earned a scholarship to Mills College in Oakland, California.

11.

From 1951 to 1953, Eloise Giblett served as an intern, then resident in Internal Medicine, at King County Hospital.

12.

In 1953, Eloise Giblett was awarded a two-year fellowship for post-doctoral research in hematology.

13.

Eloise Giblett primarily assisted with his research on erythrokinetics, the dynamic study of the production and destruction of red blood cells.

14.

Eloise Giblett worked with geneticist Arno Motulsky studying erythrokinetics in splenomegaly, kicking off a decades-long collaboration.

15.

Eloise Giblett remained at the Blood Center as associate director until her promotion to executive director in 1979.

16.

Eloise Giblett focused the majority of her career on academic research.

17.

Eloise Giblett's lab focused on studying blood groups, with particular attention to genetic markers in human blood.

18.

Eloise Giblett's research assisted in refuting the standard practice at the time of segregating blood donations based on the race of the donor.

19.

In 1958, Eloise Giblett began research studying polymorphisms of the human plasma proteins haptoglobin and transferrin using starch gel electrophoresis.

20.

Eloise Giblett actively collaborated with Arno Motulsky, a fellow professor at the University of Washington.

21.

Eloise Giblett analyzed blood samples from a population study Motulsky carried out in the Congo in 1960.

22.

Eloise Giblett eventually expanded her research into the activity of polymorphic proteins in human plasma and blood cells, leading to her famous discovery of the first immunodeficiency disease.

23.

In 1972, Eloise Giblett received samples from a patient with severe combined immunodeficiency disease.

24.

Eloise Giblett named this disease adenosine deaminase immunodeficiency, and it was recognized as the first official immunodeficiency disease.

25.

Eloise Giblett's hypothesis was confirmed in 1975 upon analysis of an immunocompromised patient exhibiting normal ADA activity but defective purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity.

26.

In 1978, Eloise Giblett closed her research lab to direct the Puget Sound Blood Center.

27.

Eloise Giblett attempted to allay fears about the hazard of giving blood and closely followed the incidence of the disease in previously transfused patients.

28.

Eloise Giblett retired from the Puget Sound Blood Center in 1987.

29.

Eloise Giblett devoted her remaining years to playing the violin and contributing to various musical groups, playing in several string quartets.

30.

Eloise Giblett was a co-founder of the Music Center of the Northwest, and contributed to them until she died.

31.

In 1967, Eloise Giblett was promoted to full professor at the University of Washington.

32.

Eloise Giblett served as president of the American Society of Human Genetics in 1973.

33.

Eloise Giblett was a board member of the American Society of Hematology, the Western Association of Physicians and the New York Blood Center Research Advisory Committee.

34.

In 1980, Eloise Giblett was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

35.

In 1969, Eloise Giblett published Genetic Markers in Human Blood, a reference book aimed to increase the accessibility of information about biochemical variation in blood.

36.

Eloise Giblett is mentioned by name in Robert Heinlein's novel The Number of the Beast.

37.

In 2010, the Elo Eloise Giblett Endowed Professorship in Hematology was established at the University of Washington.