(The critically acclaimed laboratory standard, Methods in ...)
The critically acclaimed laboratory standard, Methods in Enzymology, is one of the most highly respected publications in the field of biochemistry. Since 1955, each volume has been eagerly awaited, frequently consulted, and praised by researchers and reviewers alike. The series contains much material still relevant today - truly an essential publication for researchers in all fields of life sciences.
Elizabeth Fondal Neufeld is an American geneticist, biochemist, author, and educator. She is best known as an authority on human genetic diseases. Her research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), provided new insights into mucopolysaccharide storage disorders (the absence of certain enzymes preventing the body from properly storing certain substances).
Background
Elizabeth Fondal Neufeld was born on September 27, 1928 in Paris, France. Her parents, Jacques and Elvire Fondal, were Russian Jewish refugees who had settled in France after the Russian revolution. The impending occupation of France by the Germans brought the Fondal family to New York in June 1940.
Education
Elizabeth Neufeld's parents had a strong commitment to the importance of education. She attended Hunter College High School in New York. She then obtained a Bachelor of Science from Queens College, New York City in 1948 and a Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley in 1956 for her work on nucleotides and complex carbohydrates.
Moreover, Elizabeth Neufeld received her Doctor of Science (honorary) from Russell Sage College, Troy, New York in 1981, a Doctor of Science (honorary) from Hahnemann University School Medicine, Philadelphia in 1984, and a Doctor of Science (honorary) from Queens College in 1996.
Elizabeth Neufeld worked briefly as a research assistant to Elizabeth Russell at the Jackson Memorial Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. In 1951 she moved to Maryland, where she served as a research assistant to Nathan Kaplan and Sidney Colowick at the McCollum-Pratt Institute at Johns Hopkins University. In 1952 Neufeld moved again, this time to the West Coast.
Neufeld began her scientific studies at a time when few women chose science as a career. The historical bias against women in science, compounded with an influx of men coming back from the Second World War and going to college, made positions for women rare; few women could be found in the science faculties of colleges and universities. Despite the "overt discrimination" Neufeld often witnessed, she decided nonetheless to pursue her interests.
After spending several years at Berkeley as an assistant research biochemist, Neufeld moved on to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1963, where she began as a research biochemist at the National Institute of Arthritis Metabolism and Digestive Diseases. It was during her time at NIH that Neufeld began her research on mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), disorders in which a complex series of sugars known as mucopolysaccharides cannot be stored or metabolized properly.
Because some plant cell wall polymers contain uronic acids (a component of mucopolysaccharides), Neufeld, from her work with plants, could surmise how the complex sugars worked in humans. When she first began working on Hurler syndrome in 1967, she initially thought the problem might stem from faulty regulation of the sugars, but experiments showed the problem was in fact the abnormally slow rate at which the sugars were broken down.
Working with fellow scientist Joseph Fratantoni, Neufeld attempted to isolate the problem by tagging mucopolysaccharides with radioactive sulfate, as well as mixing normal cells with MPS patient cells. Fratantoni inadvertently mixed cells from a Hurler patient and a Hunter patient - and the result was a nearly normal cell culture. The two cultures had essentially "cured" each other. Additional work showed that the cells could cross-correct by transferring a corrective factor through the culture medium. The goal now was to determine the makeup of the corrective factor or factors.
Through a combination of biological and molecular techniques, Neufeld was able to identify the corrective factors as a series of enzymes. Normally, the enzymes would serve as catalysts for the reactions needed for cells to metabolize the sugars. In Hurler and other MPS patients, enzyme deficiency makes this difficult. A further complication is that often the enzymes that do exist lack the proper chemical markers needed to enter cells and do their work. Neufeld's subsequent research with diseases similar to MPS, including I-Cell disease, showed how enzymes needed markers to match with cell receptors to team with the right cells.
This research paved the way for successful prenatal diagnosis of the MPS and related disorders, as well as genetic counseling. Although no cure has been found, researchers are experimenting with such techniques as gene replacement therapy and bone marrow transplants.
In 1973 Neufeld was named chief of NIH's Section of Human Biochemical Genetics, and in 1979 she was named chief of the Genetics and Biochemistry Branch of the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIADDK). She served as deputy director in NIADDK's Division of Intramural Research from 1981 to 1983.
In 1984 Neufeld went back to the University of California, this time the Los Angeles campus, as chair of the biological chemistry department, where she continues her research. In addition to MPS, she has done research on similar disorders such as Tay-Sachs disease. But her concerns go beyond research. She strongly believes that young scientists just starting out need support and encouragement from the scientific community, because these scientists can bring new and innovative perspectives to difficult questions and issues. At the same time, young scientists can learn much from the experience of established scientists. In her capacity as department chair, Neufeld encourages interaction among established scientists, young scientists, and students.
(The critically acclaimed laboratory standard, Methods in ...)
1966
Views
Quotations:
"Some people looked at women who wanted a career in science as a little eccentric, but I enjoyed what I was doing and I decided I would persevere."
Membership
Neufeld has chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the National MPS Society since 1988 and was president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from 1992 to 1993. She was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences (United States) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977. She has also been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Gene Therapy, American Society of Clinical Investigation, American Society of Cell Biology, American Chemical Society, American Society of Human Genetics, American Philosophical Society, and Institute of Medicine.
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
,
United States
1992 - 1993
Interests
hiking, travel
Connections
Elizabeth Fondal Neufeld is married to Benjamin Neufeld, a former official with the U.S. Public Health Service, since 1951. She is the mother of two children.