Florence Rena Sabin was an American anatomist who contributed to research in the lymphatic system, blood vessels and cells, and tuberculosis. She was the first woman to be elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences; to become a full professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the president of the American Association of Anatomists. She was considered to be one of the leading women scientists of her time. Florence Rena Sabin was born in 1871 in Colorado. Florence’s mother died from puerperal fever (sepsis), when she was just seven. She was brought up by her grandparents and uncle, who instilled a love for Nature in Florence.
Throughout her childhood, Florence wanted to become a pianist but her experience at Vermont Academy made her shift her focus to science. She began her career as a teacher in Denver and at Smith College, in Massachusetts. This helped her save for the tuition money to enter the Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore.
In 1896, she became one of 14 women in a class of 45 students at Johns Hopkins Medical School. At Hopkins, Sabin studied anatomy under mentor Franklin Paine Mall.
On brain structure
Following graduation, Sabin obtained an internship at Hopkins. Sabin worked on mapping the anatomical presentation of neonatal brain structure. In 1901, she published An Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain, which became a popular medical text. In 1917, she became the school’s first female full professor, teaching embryology and histology in the Department of Anatomy.
For many years, Sabin’s research focussed on the lymphatic system. She disproved a prevailing theory by demonstrating that lymphatic vessels develop from a special layer of cells in certain fetal veins, rather than from intercellular spaces. She then turned to the study of blood, blood vessels, and blood cells and made numerous discoveries regarding their origin and development.
In 1925, she joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and conducted research on the pathology and immunology of tuberculosis. She played a key role in legislating Colorado’s public health program after the end of World War II and also fought for the rights of women scientists and doctors.
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