Mary Jeanne Kreek

Mary Jeanne Kreek
Kreek (right), receiving Lifetime Science Award
Born	9 February 1937 Washington, D.C.
Died	27 March 2021(2021-03-27) (aged 84)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Wellesley College Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Known for	Methadone therapy
Scientific career
Fields	Neurobiology

Mary Jeanne Kreek (9 February 1937[1] – March 27, 2021)[2] was an American neurobiologist specializing in the study and treatment of addiction.[3] She is best known for her work with Marie Nyswander and Dr. Vincent Dole in the development of methadone therapy for heroin addiction.[4]

Education

Kreek graduated with a B.A. in chemistry from Wellesley College in 1958,[5] and in 1962, she received her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.[6]

Career

Kreek completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center after completing her M.D. She taught medicine at the Cornell Medical College.[7]

In 2000, Kreek was named a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, and in 2004, she received an Alumni Gold Medal Award from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for "lifetime excellence in medicine".[8] In 2014, Kreek was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.[6]

As of November 2015, she was a senior attending physician, the Patrick E. and Beatrice M. Haggerty Professor, and head of the Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases at The Rockefeller University.[6]

Kreek served as a visiting professor for St. George's University in Grenada, West Indies, from 1979 to 2015, as well on the board of directors for the campus-based research institution, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF).[9]

Personal life

Her father, Louis Francis Kreek, was an Examiner-in-Chief and served on the board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[7] On January 24, 1970, she married Dr. Robert A. Schaefer.[7]

She died on March 27, 2021, at the age of 84.[2]

References

1. "Mary Kreek Obituary - New York, NY".
2. "Mary Jeanne Kreek, pioneer in studies of addiction, has died". The Rockefeller University. 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
3. Mantsch, John R; Bart, Gavin; Unterwald, Ellen M (15 May 2021). "In Memoriam". International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 24 (7): 533–534. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyab019. PMC 8299819.
4. Wren, Christopher (3 October 1998). "Holding an Uneasy Line In the Long War on Heroin; Methadone Emerged in City Now Debating Its Use". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
5. "Mary Jeanne Kreek '58". Wellesley College. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
6. "MARY JEANNE KREEK, M.D." Rockefeller University. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
7. "Dr. R.A. Schaefer Weds List of Entertainment Benefit Parties; Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek". The New York Times. No. 60. 24 January 1970. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
8. Macpherson, Calum (11 February 2005). "Sixth Annual WINDREF Lecture". SGU Gazette. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
9. "'Rockefeller University obituary'". Rockefeller University.

External links

• Rockefeller University page
• 2017 Oral History Interview [1]