Anne A. Gershon
{{Short description|American Pediatric Infectious Disease Researcher}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Anne A. Gershon
| nationality = American
| fields = Pediatric infectious disease
| known for = Work on chickenpox
| workplaces = Columbia University
| alma_mater = Smith College (BsC)
Cornell University (MD)
| awards = Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal (2013)
Maxwell Finland Award (2019)
| spouse = Michael D. Gershon
}}
Anne Gershon is an infectious disease researcher and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University. She is best known for her work on the varicella-zoster virus, the causative agent for chickenpox.{{Cite web |date=2018-09-14 |title=Anne A Gershon, MD |url=https://www.pediatrics.columbia.edu/profile/anne-gershon-md |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Department of Pediatrics |language=en}} In the 1970s, she ran clinical trials for the varicella vaccine which showed that the vaccine was safe for children with leukemia. She also developed the first sensitive test for chickenpox.{{Cite web |title=Anne Gershon, MD, FIDSA: A Woman of ID – IDSA Foundation |url=https://idsafoundation.org/anne-gershon-md-fidsa-a-woman-of-id/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=idsafoundation.org}}
Education
Gershon studied pre-medicine at Smith College and graduated in 1960.{{Cite web |last=Dietz |first=Nancy |date=2021 |title=Anne Angen Gershon '60 MD is a trailblazer and a lifesaver |url=https://www.smith.edu/sites/default/files/media/Documents/College-Relations/Gershon_tribute.pdf }} She completed her medical degree at Cornell Medical School and her residency at New York Hospital.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Anne Gershon, MD, Pediatrics Specialist - New York, NY |url=https://www.sharecare.com/doctor/dr-anne-a-gershon |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Sharecare |language=en}} While in New York, Gershon studied the herpes simplex virus in infants.{{Cite journal |last=Gershon |first=Anne A. |date=1972-11-01 |title=Herpes Simplex Infection of the Newborn |url=http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/archpedi.1972.02110170117021 |journal=Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine |language=en |volume=124 |issue=5 |pages=739–741 |doi=10.1001/archpedi.1972.02110170117021 |pmid=4343658 |issn=1072-4710|url-access=subscription }}
Career
After Michiaki Takahasi developed a vaccine against variella in the late 1960s,{{Cite news |last=Yardley |first=William |date=Dec 21, 2013 |title=Michiaki Takahashi, 85, Who Tamed Chickenpox, Dies |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/health/michiaki-takahashi-85-who-tamed-chickenpox-dies.html }} Gershon organized the Varicella Vaccine Collaborative Study Group to study both the safety and efficacy of this vaccine. This group, funded by the NIH, showed that the varicella vaccine was safe even for children who were in remission from leukemia.{{Cite journal |last1=Marin |first1=Mona |last2=Seward |first2=Jane F |last3=Gershon |first3=Anne A |date=2022-10-21 |title=25 Years of Varicella Vaccination in the United States |journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=226 |issue=Suppl 4 |pages=S375–S379 |doi=10.1093/infdis/jiac251 |issn=0022-1899 |pmid=36265845|pmc=10310989 }} In 1991, the group published "The Incidence of Zoster after Immunization with Live Attenuated Varicella Vaccine -- A Study in Children with Leukemia," in the New England Journal of Medicine. They showed that leukemic children who were vaccinated against varicella had lower rates of later varicella infection than children who were naturally infected.{{Cite journal |last1=Gershon |first1=A. A. |last2=Steinberg |first2=S. P. |date=April 1990 |title=Live attenuated varicella vaccine: protection in healthy adults compared with leukemic children. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Varicella Vaccine Collaborative Study Group |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2156941 |journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=161 |issue=4 |pages=661–666 |doi=10.1093/infdis/161.4.661 |issn=0022-1899 |pmid=2156941}}
In 2000, Gershon, along with Ann M. Arvin, published Varicella-zoster virus: virology and clinical management.{{Cite book |last1=Arvin |first1=Ann M. |title=Varicella-zoster virus: virology and clinical management |last2=Gershon |first2=Anne A. |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge university press |isbn=978-0-521-66024-2 |location=Cambridge}}
She has stated that her decision to study pediatrics was because it was "essentially the only field open to women at the time."
Awards and leadership
In 1993, Gershon was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from Smith College.
From 2008-2009, Gershon was the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
In 2013, Gershon was awarded the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal in recognition of her research that led to public acceptance of the chickenpox vaccine.{{Cite web |last=Radice |first=Lauren |date=2013-04-23 |title=Dr. Anne Gershon Receives 2013 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award |url=https://www.sabin.org/resources/dr-anne-gershon-receives-2013-albert-b-sabin-gold-medal-award/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Sabin Vaccine Institute |language=en-US}}
In 2019, Gershon was awarded the Maxwell Finland Award for Scientific Research.{{Citation |title=2019 NFID Awards Dinner: Anne A. Gershon, MD | date=15 May 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEhEST5dcWk |access-date=2023-11-28 |language=en}}
Personal life
Anne Gershon is married to Michael D. Gershon. Her father was a doctor, and she has stated that she wanted to pursue a similar career. She has also cited her personal experiences with infectious diseases, including toxoplasmosis and mononucleosis, as her reason to study vaccinology.
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Columbia University faculty
Category:American vaccinologists
Category:American women medical researchers
Category:20th-century American women academics
Category:21st-century American women academics