Yalow, Rosalyn (1921–)

American medical physicist. Born Rosalyn Sussman, July 19, 1921, in South Bronx, New York; dau. of Simon Sussman (paper and twine jobber) and Clara (Zipper) Sussman (piece sewer); Hunter College, AB, 1941; University of Illinois, MS, 1942, PhD, 1945; m. Aaron Yalow, June 6, 1943 (died 1992); children: Benjamin Yalow (b. 1952); Elanna Yalow (b. 1954).

Physicist who was awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology for her development of radioimmunoassay (RIA); was the only female research engineer at Federal Telecommunications Laboratory, International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (1945–46); was a lecturer and assistant professor of physics, Hunter College (1946–50); went from part-time consulting physicist to chief of radioisotopic services, Radioimmunoassay Reference Laboratory, and director of the Solomon A. Berson Research Laboratory, Radioisotope Unit, Veterans Administration Hospital, Bronx, New York (1947–91); served as consultant at Lenox Hill Hospital (1956–62); published watershed article about work with insulin antibodies (1956); introduced radioimmunoassay to scientific community (1959); was a research professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine (1968–91); elected to National Academy of Sciences (1975); saw the Rosalyn S. Yalow Research and Development Award established by American Diabetes Association (1978), because, as a result of her research, thousands of medical facilities worldwide are able to utilize inexpensive, quick, and sensitive testing to diagnose and detect crucial biomedical substances in the human body, and modern insulin has been genetically engineered to be identical to human insulin, saving many lives; elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1979); appointed distinguished professor-at-large at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University (1979); served as chair, Department of Clinical Sciences, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center, the Bronx (1980–85); writings include (edited with Berson) Peptide Hormones (2 vols., 1973), (with Luft and Accary) Radioimmunoassay: Methodology and Applications in Physiology and in Clinical Studies: Commemorative Issue for Solomon A. Berson (1974). Awarded Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research (1976), Nobel Prize (1977), and National Medal of Science (1988).

See also Eugene Straus, Rosalyn Yalow, Nobel Laureate: Her Life and Work in Medicine (Plenum, 1998); and Women in World History.