Florence R. Sabin

Florence R. Sabin
Florence R. Sabin
Born
Florence Rena Sabin

(1871-11-09)November 9, 1871
DiedOctober 3, 1953(1953-10-03) (aged 81)
Alma materSmith College (B.S., 1893); Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (M.D., 1900)
Known forResearch on the lymphatic system; modernization of Colorado public health (“Sabin Health Laws”)
AwardsAlbert Lasker Public Service Award (1951)
Scientific career
FieldsAnatomy; medical research; public health
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins School of Medicine; Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
Signature

Florence Rena Sabin (November 9, 1871 – October 3, 1953) was an American physician and medical scientist known for pioneering work on the development of the lymphatic system and for later transforming public health in Colorado. She was the first woman to hold a full professorship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the first woman elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and the first woman to head a department at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. During retirement she led a public-health reform campaign in Colorado that produced the “Sabin Health Laws”; in 1951 she received the Albert Lasker Public Service Award for her public-health work.