Celebrating Three Women Trailblazers in Neuroscience and Neurology

Recent years have seen a much greater awareness of the reality of gender inequity in scientific research and a growing understanding of the importance of an inclusive and diverse approach. Today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we honour the lives and work of three women who carried out ground-breaking work in neuroscience and neurobiology. They are pioneers of research and innovators whose inspiration, lives and dedication left a lasting influence.

Patricia Goldman-Rakic (1937 – 2003)

Patricia Goldman-Rakic was a pioneer of cognitive neuroscience. Her research into the brain’s prefrontal cortex and its relationship to working memory had profound implications for our understanding of schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

She was awarded her PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1963 and went on to become Chief of Developmental Neurobiology at the National Institute of Mental Health, and later Professor of Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine.

Goldman-Rakic was also a champion of other women in science, never forgetting the early years of her career when she was very much a lone woman in a male-dominated field. In her obituary in Neuron magazine, Yale colleague Amy F.T. Arnsten wrote, “She served as a role model for countless numbers of young women who hoped that they too could make a difference in science.” Another former colleague said: “In the 21 years that I worked with Pat, I saw a steady stream of young women (and men) pass through her laboratory. In her own inconspicuous way, she nurtured the careers of many women in neuroscience.”

Thanjavur Santhanakrishna Kanaka (1932 – 2018)

Thanjavur Santhanakrishna Kanaka was Asia’s first female neurosurgeon and one of the world’s first female neurosurgeons. She pioneered functional neurosurgery in the 1960s and 1970s and was one of the first neurosurgeons in India to perform chronic electrode implants in the brain and deep brain stimulation.

Dr Kanaka was a trailblazer for women in neurosurgery. During her long and productive career, she authored dozens of articles reported in prestigious neurosurgical journals worldwide and helped inspire and train the next generations of neurosurgeons in India and abroad.

In 1996, Kanaka became the Honorary President of the Asian Women’s Neurosurgical Association. At that time she was formally acknowledged as Asia’s first female neurosurgeon. She also used her own funds to establish the Sri Santhanakrishna Padmavathi Health Care and Research Foundation, which offers free healthcare to those in need.

Kanaka faced much discrimination as a pioneering woman in a male-dominated field. It’s reported that program leaders in her MS program did not trust her medical capabilities, often not choosing her for surgical procedures. According to Wikipedia, when taking her examinations, Kanaka had to appear multiple times before she was taken seriously.

Dr Kanaka’s career was notable for her successful collaborations with biomedical engineers on medical device development using locally sourced materials and talent in India.

Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909 – 2012)

Rita Levi-Montalcini was an Italian Nobel laureate, honoured for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with her colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF was the first of many cell-growth factors to be found in the bodies of animals. It plays an important role in the growth of nerve cells and fibres in the peripheral nervous system.

Levi-Montalcini studied medicine at the University of Turin and did research there on the effects that peripheral tissues have on nerve cell growth. Although she was forced into hiding in Florence during the German occupation of Italy due to her Jewish ancestry, she was still able to set up a laboratory in her bedroom in Turin and study the growth of nerve fibres in chicken embryos, discovering that nerve cells die when they lack targets and laying the groundwork for much of her later research.

Levi-Montalcini established the Institute of Cell Biology in Rome in 1962. In 1987 she was awarded the National Medal of Science, and in 2001 Italian Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi appointed Levi-Montalcini senator for life for her outstanding contributions to science.