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A Tribute to Dr. Frances Kathleen Oldham (1914-2015) Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, the physician and pharmacologist who played a critical role in preventing the distribution of the drug thalidomide in the US, passed away on August 7th, 2015 at 101 years of age. Dr. Kelsey was a member of ASPET since 1942. Dr. Kelsey was born in British Columbia in 1914. She received her BSc in 1934 and MSc in 1935 from McGill University. She subsequently moved to the United States to the University of Chicago, earning her PhD in pharmacology in 1938 and her MD in 1950. While in graduate school, Kelsey participated in studies identifying diethylene glycol as the toxic agent in the elixir of sulfanilamide that killed 107 people in 1937. She taught at both the University of Chicago and the University of South Dakota and also practiced medicine in Vermillion, South Dakota. In 1960, she took a position as medical officer at the Food and Drug Administration and moved to Washington, DC. She later became chief of the Division of New Drugs, director of the Division of Scientific Investigations, and deputy for Scientific and Medical Affairs, Office of Compliance. She remained at the FDA until her retirement at the age of 90. Dr. Kelsey’s first assignment at the FDA was to review an application for the use of thalidomide, which had already been used throughout Europe and Great Britain as an anti-nausea drug to treat morning sickness. After noting a number of concerns with the application, she requested additional information and ultimately blocked approval of the drug in the United States. However, by late 1961, evidence was growing that thalidomide was causing serious birth defects in other parts of the world. Thalidomide was taken off the market in 1962, but not before approximately 10,000 children had been impacted. On August 7, 1962, President John F. Kennedy awarded Frances Kelsey the highest honor given to a
civilian in the United States, the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. She was the second woman to ever receive the award. In 2010, the FDA established a Dr. Frances O. Kelsey Award for Excellence and Courage in Protecting Public Health, which is given annually to an FDA staff member. More information about Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey can be found here in an article about her published in Molecular Interventions.
Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey received the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service from President John F. Kennedy in 1962
September 2015 • The Pharmacologist