Ruth Sanger
Ruth Ann Sanger (born June 6, 1918 in Southport , † June 4, 2001 in Putney ) was an Australian hematologist .
Life
Sanger was the daughter of a school principal and went to school and university in Sydney with a medical degree in 1938. She worked at the blood bank of the Red Cross in Australia before going to England in 1946 to study with blood group specialist Robert Russell Race (1907– 1984), who was the director of the Blood Type Research Division of the Medical Research Council (MRC) at the Lister Institute in London. In 1948 she received her PhD from the University of London . She returned briefly to Australia, but from 1950 stayed in England at the blood group unit of the MRC. In 1973 she succeeded Race as head of the blood group unit and director of the MRC. In 1983 she retired.
Sanger was with Robert Russell Race, her husband since 1956, author of a standard work on human blood types. The first edition from 1950 was partly based on her dissertation. She was involved in several hematological discoveries, including the Xg blood group system (linked to the X chromosomes in a sex-specific manner).
She had been a Fellow of the Royal Society since 1972 . In 1973 she received the Oliver Memorial Award of the British Red Cross, in 1957 with Race the Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award and in 1972 both received the Gairdner Foundation International Award and in 1970 the Philip Levine Award.
Her marriage to Race was childless.
Fonts
- with Robert Russell: Race Blood Groups in Man . 6th edition. Oxford: Blackwell 1975.
- German translation: The blood groups of humans . Thieme 1958.
Web links
- Obituary in the New York Times
- Entry in Australian Encyclopedia of Science
- Wellcome Library, Sanger and Race Papers
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sanger, Ruth |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sanger, Ruth Ann (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian medic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 6, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Southport |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 4, 2001 |
| Place of death | Putney , London |