Medical Pioneers Codexery

Alice Stewart

British physician who linked prenatal x-rays to childhood cancer.

Last updated

Her study of radiation illness among Hanford plutonium workers is often cited by those arguing that very low radiation doses pose substantial hazard.[1] A British physician and epidemiologist, Alice Mary Stewart (née Naish), focused her career on social medicine and how radiation impacts health.[1] The connection between pregnant women receiving x-rays and elevated childhood cancer rates was first established by Stewart.[1]

Key facts and history

Stewart was born in Sheffield, England, on 4 October 1906, to two physicians who were pioneers in pediatrics.[2][1] At Oxford she developed an interest in social medicine while researching health problems of wartime munitions workers.[2] In 1950 she became head of the department of social and preventive medicine but was not granted the title of professor.[3] Her results were initially regarded as unsound but were eventually accepted worldwide, curtailing medical x-ray use during pregnancy.[4]

After retiring in 1974, she worked with Thomas Mancuso examining Hanford plant workers' sickness records and found higher radiation-induced ill health than official studies reported.[5][4] She was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1986.[1] From 1953 through 1956, Stewart directed a study, financed by the Medical Research Council, investigating whether x-rays cause childhood cancer.[3]

What the research sources say

The New York Times obituary notes that Stewart died on 23 June 2002 at age 95.[1] Sir Richard Doll attributed Stewart's Hanford findings to a "questionable" statistical analysis by her assistant George Kneale.[5] Gayle Greene's biography of Stewart, titled The Woman Who Knew Too Much, initially appeared in print in 1999.[6] The European Committee on Radiation Risk had Stewart as its inaugural Chair, a position she assumed in 1997.[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alice Stewart, 95; Linked X-Rays to Diseases", The New York Times, 4 July 2002, p. B 6; "Alice Stewart", The Right Livelihood Award (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greene, "The Woman Who Knew Too Much — Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation", University of Michigan Press, 2017, p. 35–56 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Doll, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", January 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stewart, Alice M; J.W. Webb; B.D. Giles; D. Hewitt, 1956. "Preliminary Communication: Malignant Disease in Childhood and Diagnostic Irradiation In-Utero," Lance (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Doll, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", January 2006; Mancuso, "Radiation exposures of Hanford workers dying from cancer and other causes", Health Physics, November 1977, p. 369–385 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rentetzi, "Gayle Greene, The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation", The British Journal for the History of Science, March 2019, p. 176–178 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Alice Stewart" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alice Stewart", Laureates, 2007; Vines, "A Nuclear Reactionary", Times Higher Education Supplement, 28 July 1995; Staff writers, "Background: the ECRR", European Committee on Radiation Risk, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alice Stewart (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Medical Pioneers

Ambroise ParéAnthony FauciBen CarsonBenjamin SpockBernard PeyrilheCamillo GolgiMichael ServetusRené LaennecRobert A. KehoeThomas NoguchiThomas StarzlWilliam Harvey

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In which place was Alice Stewart born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Sheffield, England.

2. In what year was Alice Stewart born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1906.

3. In what year did Alice Stewart die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 2002.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →