October 20, 2006

In memoriam: Janet W. McArthur, MD, ScD

Janet W. McArthur, MD, ScD, a longtime member of the MGH, died Oct. 6 at age 92. McArthur first joined the MGH in 1943 after receiving her medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School. She was appointed an instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 1950 and later became professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, making her the first woman from the MGH to be named a full professor at HMS.

During her long career at the Vincent Service, McArthur made several important contributions to endocrine research, including the development of a procedure to measure pituitary lutenizing hormone (LH), which triggers ovulation in women. McArthur's novel technique led to the discovery that women in menopause have higher levels of LH and another hormone called follicle-stimulating hormone than those in their childbearing years. McArthur also found that LH abnormalities were
characteristic in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Other research findings of McArthur's include the importance of cervical mucus in transporting sperm into the uterus and Fallopian tubes for fertilization and the effects of diet, stress and athletic exertion on the menstrual cycle.

From 1963 to 1967, McArthur served on the subcommittee for the Standards of Pituitary Hormone Distribution Committee of the Endocrinology Study Section of the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Disease. She wrote 68 papers about women's health and endocrine research throughout her career.

"Dr. McArthur was and remains an icon in the field of women's health," says Isaac Schiff, MD, chief of the MGH Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Service. "She revolutionized the field and made it easier for all of us who have followed in her footsteps. Anyone in the women's health profession would be privileged to have known and worked with her."