Skip to Main Content
NYMC Library Banner
Ask a Librarian

Wright, Jane C., M.D., 1919-2013: Home

Portrait of Jane C. Wright, M.D., 1919-2013

Portrait of Jane Wright, M.D.

SOURCE: Fleur-O-Scope (NYMC Yearbook) 1945, pg. 106. 

Brief Biographical Sketch

Birth: November 30, 1919
Death: February 19, 2013

 

Jane Wright followed in her father’s footsteps and became a doctor and cancer researcher. A 1945 graduate of New York Medical College, Wright went on to become an associate professor of surgical research at New York University and director of cancer chemotherapy research at New York University Medical Center in 1955. In 1967, she was named professor of surgery, head of the Cancer Chemotherapy Department, and associate dean at New York Medical College, becoming the highest ranking African American woman at a nationally recognized medical institution. In 1971 Wright became the first woman to be elected president of the New York Cancer Society. Dr. Wright retired in 1987, having achieved many “firsts” and having published many research papers on cancer chemotherapy. She died in 2013, having been an inspiration to many.

 

  • First woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society, 1971
  • First African-American women to be named associate dean of a medical school, 1967
  • Appointed to the President Lyndon Johnson's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke, 1964
  • Founding member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 1964

Selected Works

Barnes, L. T., Arons, I., Foster, P., & Wright, J. C. (1957). Metabolism in neoplastic diseases as revealed in studies of radioactive iodine uptake. New York State Journal of Medicine, 57(20), 3315-3318.

Cobb, J. P., Walker, D. G., & Wright, J. C. (1960). Observations on the action of triethylene thiophosphoramide within individual cells. Acta - Unio Internationalis Contra Cancrum, 16, 567-583.

Cobb, J. P., Walker, D. G., & Wright, J. C. (1961). Comparative chemotherapy studies on primary short-term cultures of human normal, benign, and malignant tumor tissues--a five-year study. Cancer Research, 21, 583-590.

Cobb, J. P., & Wright, J. C. (1959). Studies on a craniopharyngioma in tissue culture. I. growth characteristics and alterations produced following exposure to two radiomimetic agents. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 18, 563-568.

Golomb, F. M., Cobb, J. P., Walker, D. G., & Wright, J. C. (1962). In vitro selection of chemotherapeutic agents for perfusion therapy of human cancer. Surgery, 51, 639-644.

Golomb, F. M., Solowey, A. C., Postel, A., Gumport, S. L., & Wright, J. C. (1967). Induced remission of malignant melanoma with actinomycin D. immunologic implications. Cancer, 20(5), 656-662.

Golomb, F. M., & Wright, J. C. (1963). Simultaneous surgical and perfusion therapy for operable cancers of the head and neck area. American Journal of Surgery, 106, 786-790.

Gumport, S. L., Golomb, F. M., & Wright, J. C. (1958). Summary of results obtained with CB 1348. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 68(3), 1024-1034.

Kenny, F. M., Guyda, H. J., Wright, J. C., & Friesen, H. G. (1973). Prolactin and somatomedin in hypopituitary patients with "catch up" growth following operations for craniopharyngioma. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 36(2), 378-380.

Lyall, D., Schwartz, M., Herter, F. P., Hudson, P. B., Wright, J. C., Findlay, C. W., . . . Haagensen, C. D. (1965). Treatment of cancer by the method of revici. JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association, 194(3), 279-280.

Malkin, R. B., Strax, T., & Wright, J. C. (1969). Cancer in advancing age. Journal of the National Medical Association, 61(3), 255-257.

Ransohoff, J., Martin, B. F., Medrek, T. J., Harris, M. N., Golomb, F. M., & Wright, J. C. (1965). Preliminary clinical study of mithramycin (nsc-24559) in primary tumors of the central nervous system. Cancer Chemotherapy Reports.Part 1, 49, 51-57.

Sartin, E. A., Rahe, C. H., Wright, J. C., & Sartin, J. L. (1995). Luteinizing hormone releasing hormone, estrogen, and progesterone receptors in canine mammary lesions and tumor cell lines. Anticancer Research, 15(5B), 2029-2032.
Walker, D. G., GOLDSTEIN, N., KOPF, A. W., Wright, J. C., & TYLER, B. J. (1964). Epithelial outgrowths from tissue cultures of basal cell epitheliomas. The Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 42, 435-441.

Walker, D. G., Lyons, M. M., & Wright, J. C. (1965). Observations on primary short-term cultures of human tumors. A second 5-year study. European Journal of Cancer, 1(3), 265-273.

Walker, D. G., & Wright, J. C. (1961). The effect of vincaleukoblastine on primary cultures of human neoplasms. A preliminary report. Cancer Chemotherapy Reports.Part 1, 14, 139-144.

Walker, D. G., & Wright, J. C. (1962). Cytological alterations in primary explant cultures of human neoplasms exposed to vincaleukoblastine. Cancer Research, 22, 1267-1272.

Wright, J. C. (1953). An evaluation of ACTH in incurable cancer. The Harlem Hospital Bulletin, 6(1), 13-20.

Wright, J. C. (1955). Chemotherapy of human cancer. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 17(3), 210-236.

Wright, J. C. (1961). Clinical cancer chemotherapy. New York State Journal of Medicine, 61, 249-280.

Wright, J. C. (1961). A survey of medical conditions in Ghana in 1957. Journal of the National Medical Association, 53, 313-320.

Wright, J. C. (1961). A visit to Kenya and Tanganyika in 1961. Journal of the National Medical Association, 53, 327-334.

Wright, J. C. (1962). Clinical drug dosages and duration of therapy of cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 15, 237-241.

Wright, J. C. (1962). Clinical drug dosages and duration of therapy of the cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Cancer Chemotherapy Reports.Part 1, 16, 69-72.

Wright, J. C. (1964). Angioid streaks in pituitary tumour. The British Journal of Ophthalmology, 48, 402-403.

Wright, J. C. (1967). The role of chemotherapy in pelvic malignancies. Hospital Topics, 45(11), 89-93. doi:10.1080/00185868.1967.9953875

Wright, J. C. (1970). Chemotherapy. changing concepts in therapy. Minnesota Medicine, 53(4), 373-377.

Wright, J. C. (1984). Cancer chemotherapy: Past, present, and future--part I. Journal of the National Medical Association, 76(8), 773-784.

Wright, J. C. (1984). Cancer chemotherapy: Past, present, and future--part II. Journal of the National Medical Association, 76(9), 865-876.

Wright, J. C., Greene, L. P., & Aldrich, T. E. (2001). Cancer control legislation and policy milestones in North Carolina. North Carolina Medical Journal, 62(5), 252-255.

Wright, J. C., & Madden, R. E. (1974). Cancer chemotherapy in man. Review of Surgery, 31(4), 217-237.

Wright, J. C., & Meger, G. E. (1962). Bronchogenic carcinoma metastatic to the choroid. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 53, 1003-1005.

Wright, J. C., & Meger, G. E. (1962). Metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma of the eyelid. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 54, 135-137.

Wright, J. C., Prigot, A., Wright, B., Weintraub, S., & Wright, L. T. (1951). An evaluation of folic acid antagonists in adults with neoplastic diseases: A study of 93 patients with incurable neoplasms. Journal of the National Medical Association, 43(4), 211-240.

Wright, J. C., Prigot, A., Wright, L. T., & Arons, I. (1952). Further observations on the use of triethylene melamine in neoplastic diseases. A.M.A.Archives of Internal Medicine, 89(3), 387-404.

Wright, J. C., & Walker, D. (1975). A predictive test for the selection of cancer chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of human cancer. Journal of Surgical Oncology, 7(5), 381-393.

Wright, L. T., Wright, J. C., Prigot, A., & Weintraub, S. (1950). Remissions caused by tri-ethylene melamine in certain neoplastic diseases. A preliminary report. Journal of the National Medical Association, 42(6), 343-351.