- Florence Siebert
Infobox Scientist
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birth_date =October 6 ,1897
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death_date =August 23 ,1991
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nationality = American
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field =biochemistry
work_institutions =University of Pennsylvania
alma_mater =Yale University
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known_for =tuberculin
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footnotes =Florence Siebert (
October 6 ,1897 —August 23 ,1991 ) was an Americanscientist known for isolating a pure form oftuberculin used in the standard TB test. She is a member of the U.S.National Women's Hall of Fame .Early life and education
Born in
Easton, Pennsylvania , Siebert is said to have readbiographies of famous scientists as a teenager which inspired her interest inscience . As a child she contractedpolio which left her walking with a limp, though thedisability did not interfere with her life or work.Siebert did her undergraduate work at
Goucher College and earned herPh.D. inbiochemistry fromYale University . At Yale she studied theintravenous injection ofmilk proteins under the direction ofLafayette Mendel . She developed a method to prevent these proteins from being contaminated withbacteria .Professional achievements and awards
In 1923 Siebert worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the
University of Chicago . She was financed by the Porter Fellowship of theAmerican Philosophical Society , an award that was competitive for bothmen andwomen .Siebert served as an instructor in
pathology from 1924-28 at the University of Chicago and was hired as an assistantprofessor in biochemistry in 1928. At the University of Chicaco she developed a method for purifying the crystalline tuberculin derivative under the supervision of Esmond R. Long. This purified protein derivative (PPD) was used in the standard TB test. The previous tuberculin derivative, Koch's substance, had produced false negative results in tuberculosis tests since the 1890's because of impurities in the material.In 1932, she became assistant professor in biochemistry at the
University of Pennsylvania at the Henry Phipps Institute and rose through the ranks to full professor and professor emeritus in 1959, when she retired. After her retirement she did volunteer work for many years incancer research. Siebert received the Trudeau Medal from the National Tuberculosis Association in 1938, the Garvan Medal from theAmerican Chemical Society in 1942, and an induction to the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.References
Yost, Edna, "American Women of Science", Frederick A. Stokes Company (Philadelphia and New York 1943)
External links
* [http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Features/eChemists/Bios/siebert.html Journal of Chemical Education biographical note on Florence Siebert]
* [http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=139 National Women's Hall of Fame page on Florence Siebert (with photo)]
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