The pioneer woman in the field of science is forgotten by history

Elizabeth Stern's research leads modern science on the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of cervical cancer, but not many people know her name.

History neglected women

There is a pity that history has underestimated the contribution of women.

Elizabeth Stern is probably one of the most important doctors and scientists who has ever worked in epidemiology and cancer in the mid-20th century, but it is unlikely you know her. You will not read Stern's study in medical textbooks, or find them at any symposium but Stern's contributions really laid the foundation for modern medicine.

Elizabeth Stern was born on September 19, 1915 in Cobalt, Ontario. She is the fifth of eight children born to George and Sarah Stern, who emigrated from Poland to escape increasing anti-Semitism and political unrest in Eastern Europe. She graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School on June 8, 1939, at the age of 23. When she was at the University of Toronto, she met Solomon Shankman, a chemistry major, and they married each other.

Elizabeth Stern.(Photo: Janet Williamson).

It seems that she devoted her life to studying cytology . Cytology involves diagnosing diseases at the cellular level. The first widely used cytology tool in the United States is a Pap smear test, which was applied in the 1950s to screen for cervical cancer patients. Pap tests have helped reduce more than 70% of cervical cancer deaths and mortality compared to the 1950s.

However, only a few doctors in the 1960s were interested in further research on cell shape and morphology connection with disease. As researcher Rosenthal commented: ' The field of cytology at that time was extremely young. Many people study pathology and medicine in general, looking at it as if it were a witch. "

One of Stern's main concerns is the role of dysplasia in the development of cervical cancer . Dystrophy is the development of abnormal cells that are non-invasive to surrounding tissues and often return to normal epithelial morphology.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the first stage of cervical cancer was not well defined and although dysplasia was noted in the smeared glass results, it was considered an unsettling cause. . But what happens if dysplasia is a manifestation of something more serious? Stern hypothesized that these morphological abnormalities may be an early sign of cervical cancer development.

She devoted her life to studying cytology.

He laid the foundation in detecting cervical cancer

To answer this question, Stern and her team conducted long-term epidemiological studies by collecting Pap samples from more than 10,000 women in Los Angeles County. They carefully recorded patients' results at the start of the study and throughout the 7-year study.

She found that patients diagnosed with dysplasia at the start of the study were significantly more at risk . Stern continues to conduct more than a dozen epidemiological studies that provide almost irrefutable evidence that dysplasia is an early sign of cervical cancer.

It is difficult to say the importance of this discovery and her innovative theories to the medical community at that time. Today dysplasia is identified in conventional cervical cancer screening and patients are closely monitored. The idea that dysplasia can be considered a major carcinogen comes from Stern's extraordinary and groundbreaking research.

Cervical cancer cells under a microscope.(Photo: HeitiPaves).

Of all Stern's achievements, perhaps her longest legacy lies in the modern technology of Pap testing. She collaborated with the Jet Engine Laboratory (JPL) and Rosenthal, then a cytology researcher at UCLA, to apply NASA's computer imaging technology to Pap screening.

Stern has developed a fluid-based sampling system to isolate and enrich cervical epithelium, and help determine cell standards for computer programs. The work she did at JPL revolutionized Pap screening for cervical cancer, and her fluid-based sampling technique was still used in hospitals, laboratories and clinics around world.

Stern is the true embodiment of women in science. Marilyn Winkleby, a famous epidemiologist at Stanford University, who started her career at Stern's lab, talked about her with respect and respect for all: 'I remember her always alone in the office and diligently studying. That is my most obvious memory of her. I sat right outside her busy science lab. But the lab door is always open; that door never closes'.