Jane Cooke Wright, MD, daughter of Dr. Louis Wright, one of the pioneering African American graduates from Harvard Medical School, was raised with a deep passion for healthcare. Dr. Louis Wright, the first Black doctor appointed to a staff position at a municipal hospital in New York City, made history in 1929 as the city’s inaugural African American police surgeon.
Following in her father’s footsteps, Dr. Jane Cooke Wright collaborated with him at the Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Center, which he founded in 1948. Their joint efforts in researching chemotherapy drugs yielded significant breakthroughs in treating leukemia and lymphoma, bringing about remissions in patients.
Upon her father’s passing from tuberculosis in 1952, Dr. Wright became head of the Cancer Research Center at the young age of 33. Pioneering an innovative method to assess drug efficacy on cancer cells using patient tissue instead of laboratory mice, she advanced cancer research significantly. Dr. Wright later held prominent positions as director of cancer chemotherapy research at New York University Medical Center and as an associate dean at New York Medical College.
In 1971, Dr. Wright shattered barriers once again when she was elected as the first female president of the New York Cancer Society. Her groundbreaking research played a pivotal role in shifting chemotherapy from a last-resort measure to a viable treatment option for cancer patients.
