Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bobebam here. Living through a global pandemic
Speaker 1: will have a wealth of unintended consequences, positive and negative,
Speaker 1: but one will certainly be a greater appreciation for people
Speaker 1: in medical professions, from those on the front lines treating
Speaker 1: patients to the researchers laboring behind the scenes seeking to
Speaker 1: isolate viruses and discover vaccines, both now and in the past.
Speaker 1: Dame Gene McNamara was one such hero. She witnessed and
Speaker 1: made remarkable contributions in her chosen profession, medicine, principally in
Speaker 1: the area of polio research and her work with patients
Speaker 1: with partial or complete paralysis. McNamara was born in Victoria, Australia,
Speaker 1: on April one. She was born into a family that
Speaker 1: prized hard work and education, and she excelled at both.
Speaker 1: McNamara attended Press Tyrian Ladies College and became the editor
Speaker 1: of the school's magazine, winning the prize for General Excellence.
Speaker 1: She distinguished herself at the University of Melbourne, graduating in
Speaker 1: ninety two with degrees in both surgery and anatomy. She
Speaker 1: went on to become a resident medical officer at the
Speaker 1: Royal Melbourne Hospital. McNamara was just twenty three years old
Speaker 1: when she was appointed resident at the Royal Children's Hospital
Speaker 1: in May of nineteen three, where she worked until nineteen
Speaker 1: It was a critical time as a horrifying disease, polio
Speaker 1: myelitis also known as polio, was sweeping the globe. After
Speaker 1: leaving the hospital, mcnamaro worked as a clinical assistant for
Speaker 1: a children's outpatients physician and entered private practice to focus
Speaker 1: on polio patients. But it was in McNamara's research where
Speaker 1: she shone brightness. It was her conclusion that immune seram
Speaker 1: needed to be used in polio treatment during the pre
Speaker 1: paralytic stage. She published and defended her results in both
Speaker 1: Australian and British journals, though it was a treatment that
Speaker 1: was never widely administered. While visiting Princeton University, McNamara also
Speaker 1: learned about the virus myzomatosis that infected and killed rabbits.
Speaker 1: It was at her urging the Australian government held field
Speaker 1: trials using the virus to eradicate millions of Australia's rabbits,
Speaker 1: considered to be pests that had overpopulated the country. However,
Speaker 1: it was her discovery in nineteen thirty one, along with
Speaker 1: Australian virologist Sir Frank McFarlane Burnett, of more than one
Speaker 1: strain of the poliovirus, that made her reputation. They're Finding
Speaker 1: is credited as one of the first steps toward the
Speaker 1: eventual discovery of the stock vaccine. She traveled to England
Speaker 1: and North America on a Rockefeller fellowship from September of
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one to October of nineteen thirty three, even
Speaker 1: meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself a victim of polio.
Speaker 1: In addition to her keen interest in curing disease, McNamara
Speaker 1: sought to alleviate the pain and suffering that it left
Speaker 1: in its wake. She's credited with ordering the first artificial
Speaker 1: respirator or ventilator in Australia. She introduced novel approaches to
Speaker 1: rehabilitation and splinting damaged limbs, most developed in conjunction with
Speaker 1: conversation with patients and her own splint maker. McNamara proved
Speaker 1: to be a tireless advocate for people with disabilities, long
Speaker 1: before it was a widespread consideration She married a fellow physician,
Speaker 1: dermatologist Joseph Connor, in thirty four, and in nineteen thirty
Speaker 1: five McNamara was appointed Name Commander of the Order of
Speaker 1: the British Empire for her services to the welfare of children.
Speaker 1: She died of heart disease in nineteen sixty eight. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article polio doc Gene McNamara's
Speaker 1: work CRUs Viruses can be Vanquished on how stuffworks dot Com,
Speaker 1: written by Patty rest Musin. Brain Stuff is production of
Speaker 1: by Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com
Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts by
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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.