Mary Jeanne Kreek
{{Short description|American neurobiologist (1937-2021)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Mary Jeanne Kreek
| honorific_suffix =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = File:Lifetime Science Award Dr. Kreek (23420513281).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Kreek (right), receiving Lifetime Science Award
| birth_date = 9 February 1937
| birth_place = Washington, D.C.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|03|27|1937|02|09|df=y}}
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| other_names =
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality = American
| fields = Neurobiology
| workplaces =
| patrons =
| education =
| alma_mater = Wellesley College
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
| thesis_title =
| thesis_url =
| thesis_year =
| doctoral_advisor =
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Methadone therapy
| awards =
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Mary Jeanne Kreek (9 February 1937{{Cite web|url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/new-york-ny/mary-kreek-10127357|title = Mary Kreek Obituary - New York, NY}} – March 27, 2021){{Cite news |date=2021-03-29 |title=Mary Jeanne Kreek, pioneer in studies of addiction, has died |language=en |work=The Rockefeller University |url=https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/30284-mary-jeanne-kreek-pioneer-studies-addiction-died |access-date=2021-03-29}} was an American neurobiologist specializing in the study and treatment of addiction.{{cite journal |last1=Mantsch |first1=John R |last2=Bart |first2=Gavin |last3=Unterwald |first3=Ellen M |title=In Memoriam |journal=International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology |date=15 May 2021 |volume=24 |issue=7 |pages=533–534 |doi=10.1093/ijnp/pyab019|doi-access=free |pmc=8299819 }} She is best known for her work with Marie Nyswander and Dr. Vincent Dole in the development of methadone therapy for heroin addiction.{{cite news|last1=Wren|first1=Christopher|title=Holding an Uneasy Line In the Long War on Heroin; Methadone Emerged in City Now Debating Its Use|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/03/nyregion/holding-uneasy-line-long-war-heroin-methadone-emerged-city-now-debating-its-use.html|accessdate=22 November 2015|work=The New York Times|date=3 October 1998}}
Education
Kreek graduated with a B.A. in chemistry from Wellesley College in 1958,{{cite web|title=Mary Jeanne Kreek '58|url=http://www.wellesley.edu/alumnae/awards/achievementawards/recipientpages/kreek|website=Wellesley College|accessdate=22 November 2015}} and in 1962, she received her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.{{cite web|title=MARY JEANNE KREEK, M.D.|url=http://www.rockefeller.edu/research/faculty/labheads/MaryJeanneKreek/|website=Rockefeller University|accessdate=22 November 2015}}
Career
Kreek completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center after completing her M.D. She taught medicine at the Cornell Medical College.{{cite news|date=24 January 1970|title=Dr. R.A. Schaefer Weds List of Entertainment Benefit Parties; Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek|work=The New York Times|issue=60|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E6D81138E73ABC4D51DFB766838B669EDE|accessdate=22 November 2015}}
In 2000, Kreek was named a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, and in 2004, she received an Alumni Gold Medal Award from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for "lifetime excellence in medicine".{{cite news|last1=Macpherson|first1=Calum|title=Sixth Annual WINDREF Lecture|url=https://baysgu35.sgu.edu/calendars/sgugazette.nsf/da42498a3060332085256c05006cd923/7019f53433b4640204256fa400517b41?OpenDocument|accessdate=22 November 2015|publisher=SGU Gazette|date=11 February 2005}} In 2014, Kreek was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
As of November 2015, she was a senior attending physician, the Patrick E. and Beatrice M. Haggerty Professor, and head of the Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases at The Rockefeller University.
Kreek served as a visiting professor for St. George's University in Grenada, West Indies, from 1979 to 2015, as well on the board of directors for the campus-based research institution, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF).{{Cite web|title='Rockefeller University obituary'|url=https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/30284-mary-jeanne-kreek-pioneer-studies-addiction-died/|website= Rockefeller University|language=en-US}}
Personal life
Her father, Louis Francis Kreek, was an Examiner-in-Chief and served on the board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. On January 24, 1970, she married Dr. Robert A. Schaefer.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.rockefeller.edu/research/faculty/labheads/MaryJeanneKreek/ Rockefeller University page]
- 2017 Oral History Interview [https://www.rockefeller.edu/about/history/oral-history-project/interview-mary-jeanne-kreek/]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreek, Mary Jeanne}}
Category:Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni
Category:Rockefeller University faculty
Category:Wellesley College alumni
Category:20th-century American women scientists