Friend, Charlotte (1921–1987)
Friend, Charlotte (1921–1987)
American microbiologist. Born Mar 11, 1921, in New York, NY; died Jan 13, 1987; dau. of a businessman and pharmacist; Hunter College, BA, 1944), Yale University, PhD, 1950; never married.
Known for research in leukemia and the discovery of the virus that causes leukemia in mice, also claimed that viruses could cause cancers, long before it was discovered that viruses were capable of causing leukemia and cervical cancer; published research results linking viruses to cancers with the help of Peyton Rous, co-editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, and Ludwik Gross, then a scientist with the 1st and only other research experience with leukemia viruses in mice; mentored by Cornelius P. Rhoads, was associate member (1946–66) and associate professor of microbiology (1952–66) at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research; served as a professor and the director of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine's Center for Experimental Cell Biology (1966–87); elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1976). Received Alfred Sloan Award (1954, 1957, 1962), a Hunter College Presidential Medal Centennial Award (1970), a NIH Virus-Cancer Program Award (1974) and the Prix Griffuel (1979).