Dr. Wright was a pioneer in 20th century medicine, overcoming obstacles placed on her by society as a woman and as an African-American, but most of all she was a pioneer in chemotherapy, taking those first small steps into the unknown, and paving the way for the giant steps to come.

On April 9, 1964, at the first meeting to discuss forming a society for "chemotherapists," only one of the seven physicians in attendance was a woman, Jane Cooke Wright, MD. Dr. Wright recorded the minutes that day in Chicago when the seven physicians voted unanimously to form a society of clinical oncologists.

Arnoldus Goudsmit, MD, PhD, who chaired the meeting, asked Dr. Wright to continue to serve as secretary at future meetings, and added, "Kindly consider the name of our organization and come up with a final suggestion."

By November 5, 1964, when the charter members of the organization met for the first time, the provisional title "The American Association of Clinical Oncologists" had been changed to "The American Society of Clinical Oncology." Dr. Wright, sometimes called "the mother of chemotherapy" for her early work in the field, was elected ASCO's first secretary-treasurer, a position she held until 1967.

Dr. Wright was a pioneer in 20th century medicine, overcoming obstacles placed on her by society as a woman and as an African-American, but most of all she was a pioneer in chemotherapy, taking those first small steps into the unknown, and paving the way for the giant steps to come.

Early Career

Jane Cooke Wright was born in 1919 in New York City, not far from where she lives today in retirement. Her father, Louis Tompkins Wright, was a physician, as were his father and stepfather. Her mother, Corinne Cooke Wright, was an elementary school teacher. Dr. Louis Wright was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Harvard Medical School and ranked third in his class. He was also the first African-American to join the staff at Harlem Hospital. Both of his children, Jane and her younger sister Barbara, would become physicians.

Jane Wright grew up loving math and science but also painting and athletics (she was on the swim team in both high school and college). She attended Smith College on scholarship, switching her major from art to pre-med her junior year. After receiving her MD degree with honors from New York Medical College in 1945, she interned at Bellevue Hospital in New York. She was married in 1947 to attorney David Dallas Jones, Jr, with whom she had two daughters.

Dr. Wright continued her training at Harlem Hospital where her father was Director of the Cancer Research Foundation of Harlem Hospital, which he founded. He invited his daughter to join him at the Foundation in 1949. Together they tested different chemical agents on leukemia in mice and began treating patients with anticancer drugs, with several patients achieving some degree of remission. In 1951, they tested methotrexate in breast cancer cells and did research on triethylene melamine. When her father died in 1952, Dr. Wright was appointed Director of the Foundation.

Later Work

Dr. Wright left the Cancer Research Foundation in 1955 to continue her research at New York University Bellevue Medical Center. In 1967, she became Associate Dean, Head of the Cancer Chemotherapy Department, and Professor of Surgery at New York Medical College. At that time, she was the highest ranked African-American woman at a nationally recognized medical institution.

At New York Medical College, Dr. Wright created a program of study into cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and a program to teach physicians how to use chemotherapy and conduct medical research. She developed new techniques for delivering cancer agents and for using human tissue culture to test cancer drugs. She established a database to allow cross-referencing of patients and tissue culture responses to drugs. Her research also included the use of chemotherapy agents in sequence rather than combination. And she recognized the importance of monitoring chemotherapy patients for side effects and stopping the drugs when necessary.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson invited Dr. Wright to join the cancer subcommittee of the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke. The subcommittee followed her suggestion to recommend the establishment of regional cancer treatment centers throughout the United States. She also served on the National Cancer Advisory Committee from 1966 to 1970 and, in 1971, was the first woman President of the New York Cancer Society.

AACR Award

Not only was Dr. Wright a founding member of ASCO, she was a member of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) for more than 50 years. In 2006, the AACR established the AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research-Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. Its first recipient was Nigerian scientist and researcher Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD.

"Dr. Wright is an amazing woman, a trailblazer in clinical oncology," Dr. Olopade said in an interview. "I was impressed that as far back as 40 years ago, she was a force to be reckoned with and instrumental in putting together our organization [ASCO]."

When she received the AACR award, Dr. Olopade met Dr. Wright and her daughter. "She was gracious and engaging, and wanted to know about my research and everything going on at the meeting. I've seen her every year at meetings since then."

Dr. Olopade was particularly impressed with the work Dr. Wright did "as a woman of color in the 1960s, and how progressive our organization was to embrace her and make her an ASCO officer." She hopes that Dr. Wright is enjoying retirement and knows she will always be a role model for oncologists.

The ASCO Post recently corresponded with Dr. Wright. See "A conversation with Jane Cooke Wright, MD" at right, in which Dr. Wright shares her wisdom and recollections over ASCO's 46-year history. ■

Sources

Changing the face of medicine: Dr. Jane Cooke Wright. www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_336.html. Accessed April 6, 2010.

Creating the ASCO brand. www.asco.org. Accessed March 1, 2010.

Exploring ASCO's roots. www.asco.org. Accessed March 1, 2010.

Krueger GM, Alexander LL, Whippen DA, et al: Arnoldus Goudsmit, MD, PhD: Chemotherapist, visionary, founder of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 1909-2005. J Clin Oncol 24:4033-4036, 2006.

Louis Tompkins Wright Biography (1891-1952). www.faqs.org/health/bios/85/Louis-Tompkins-Wright.html. Accessed April 6, 2010.

Wright, Jane Cooke. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2008. www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2506300181.html. Accessed April 6, 2010.