Dr. Barbara Migeon, a pioneer successful familial subject who spent implicit 60 years moving astatine the Johns Hopkins University, died of bosom nonaccomplishment successful her Roland Park location Jan. 14. She was 91.
Migeon, calved Barbara Ruben to Sara Gitin Ruben and Dr. William Ruben successful Rochester, New York connected July 31, 1931, became the sixth pistillate prof astatine Hopkins successful 1978 aft spending 16 years arsenic a module member. She became a prof emerita of familial medicine successful 2020, continuing to enactment until her death.
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Dr. Barbara R. Migeon was a collector of pottery and solid crafts, often attending trade shows and becoming friends with section artisans. (Michael Ciesielski, Johns Hopkins Medicine)
Inspired by the English geneticist Mary Lyon, overmuch of Dr. Migeon’s probe focused connected the X-inactivation, the process by which 1 of 2 X chromosomes is turned disconnected successful pistillate mammals.
“How it gets turned connected and off, that’s been her life’s work,” said her son, Jacques Migeon, of Seattle, Wash.
The taxable was the absorption of galore of her scholarly articles, arsenic good arsenic her archetypal book, “Females are Mosaics,” published successful 2007.
“Barbara was focused connected a cardinal biologic question that carried important implications for wellness and disease,” said her longtime colleague, Dr. David Valle, a Hopkins familial medicine professor. “Even until this year, she’s been moving connected that problem.”
Valle present leads the university’s doctoral programme successful quality genetics and molecular biology, which Migeon was a founding manager of successful 1978.
The oldest of 3 children, Migeon was inspired to participate the sciences by her father, a wide practitioner, according to her children.
“He was a immense information for my mother, helium pushed her,” said Dr. Migeon’s daughter, Nicole Migeon, of New York City.
Graduating a twelvemonth aboriginal from Franklin High School successful Rochester successful 1948, Migeon received a grade successful pre-medical sciences from Smith College, a backstage women’s assemblage successful Massachusetts, successful 1952 earlier attending aesculapian schoolhouse astatine the University of Buffalo, graduating successful 1956. She past headed to Baltimore to implicit her residency astatine Hopkins.
Dr. Migeon met the precocious French-born pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Claude Migeon, astatine a Christmas enactment astatine Hopkins successful 1957. The mates joined 3 years aboriginal successful Arlington, Va.
Shortly earlier her marriage, Dr. Migeon worked concisely astatine Boston Children’s Hospital, lone to instrumentality to Hopkins wherever she worked with geneticist Barton Childs.
Georgia Clark Sadler, a trailblazer for women successful the subject and the Naval Academy’s archetypal pistillate teacher (handout)
Dr. Migeon became a module subordinate astatine Hopkins successful 1962, and acceptable up her ain laboratory to survey the X chromosome and enactment differences successful disease. She became a prof of pediatrics successful 1978.
As the sixth pistillate prof astatine Hopkins, Dr. Migeon became a “tremendous resource” to women who were module members astatine the schoolhouse of medicine, Valle said.
“She was precise supportive of each of our faculty, but particularly our module who are women,” Valle said, adding that the schoolhouse has “well successful excess of 100″ pistillate module members today.
The struggles faced by her chap women who are physician-scientists was a taxable of her 2nd book, “American Science: My View from the Bench,” published successful 2016. The publication chronicles decades of improvement successful the biomedical sciences done Migeon’s ain eyewitness account.
Migeon continued moving astatine Hopkins from the aboriginal greeting hours to precocious astatine night, until the COVID-19 pandemic began, Valle said. And erstwhile the pandemic started, she continued moving those hours from home, becoming a “virtual attendee of each Zoom conference” until her wellness began deteriorating done the past fewer months.
Outside of her profession, Dr. Migeon was a collector of pottery and solid crafts, often attending trade shows and becoming friends with section artisans, her children said.
“She had a large ocular sense,” Nicole Migeon said, citing her mother’s intuition for look and colour arsenic a main crushed she became an architect.
Standing astatine 5-foot-2, Dr. Migeon was a “small, small idiosyncratic with a large personality,” her girl said.
Authoring implicit 150 probe articles and 2 books, Dr. Migeon became a stellar writer and editor. Jacques Migeon remembered however erstwhile helium would manus precocious schoolhouse assignments to his mother, they would travel backmost covered successful reddish ink.
Her penning prowess translated to her hobbies, arsenic well— she was a dramaturge to the Fells Point Corner Theatre, penning programs for the assemblage theatre she enjoyed.
Survivors include: her 3 children, Jacques, Nicole and Jean-Paul Migeon, of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts; 4 grandchildren and respective nieces and nephews. She was preceded successful decease by her husband, Dr. Claude Migeon, arsenic good arsenic her younger brother, Robert Ruben, and younger sister Sheila Markim.
The household is readying a memorial work successful conjunction with Hopkins, but details person not been finalized.
English (US)