Deborah_Doniach

Deborah Doniach
Deborah Doniach (née Abileah; 6 April 1912 – 1

January 2004) was a British clinical immunologist and Deborah Doniach
FRCP
pioneer in the field of autoimmune diseases.[1]
Early and personal life

Deborah Abileah was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on
6 April 1912 to Russian parents. Her father, Arieh
Abileah (born Leon Niswitzki), of Jewish descent, was
a concert pianist and music teacher; her mother, Fée
Héllès, of Russian-German descent (born Fea Geller),
ran a novel dance school in Paris.[2] The family moved
frequently during Deborah's childhood, living at
various times in Paris, Vienna and Italy.
Due to the frequent moves and her parents' bohemian Born Deborah Abileah
lifestyle, she did not start any formal education until 6 April 1912
the age of nine, when she and her sisters were staying Geneva, Switzerland
at an Italian convent while her mother was recovering Died 1 January 2004 (aged 91)
from tuberculosis at a sanitorium and her father was
Nationality British
accompanying the violinist Josef Szigeti on a tour of
Occupation Clinical immunologist
the United States. The family later settled in Tel Aviv,
Mandatory Palestine, where her father taught piano at Known for Pioneering research in
the Tel Aviv Conservatory.[3] They left Palestine for autoimmune diseases
Paris, where Deborah was educated at the Lycée Awards Van Meter Prize of the American
Molière.[4] She began studying medicine at the Goitre Association (1957)
Sorbonne but interrupted her studies in 1933 to Gairdner Award, Toronto (1964)
relocate to London after marrying Israel "Sonny"
Prize of the British Postgraduate
Doniach, a British pathologist whom she had first met
Federation (1967)
in Palestine in 1925.[2][5]
Woman Scientist of the Year
Following the births of her two children, she learned Prize, Association of American
English and resumed her medical studies at the Royal Women Scientists (1984)
Free Medical School, graduating in 1945.[3][6]
Deborah and "Sonny" Doniach were together for 75 years[7] (until his death in 2001) and had two
children, Sebastian Doniach (born 1934), who went on to become a condensed matter physicist at
Stanford University, and Vera Doniach (1936–1958).[2]
Career
Doniach was employed as a research assistant at the Royal Free Hospital then as an endocrinologist at
Middlesex Hospital, London where she worked with the eminent thyroid surgeon, Rupert Vaughan-
Hudson.[1][8] Her observation of patients with Hashimoto's disease and knowledge of the field led her to
realise that excess antibodies were an autoimmune reaction against the thyroid gland itself rather than
external microbes.[1][5]
She collaborated with Ivan Roitt and Peter Campbell to further understand the autoimmune basis of
Hashimoto's disease (citations). Doniach continued her studies at Middlesex Hospital with various
collaborators, including Roitt, Sheila Sherlock, Keith Taylor, and Gian Franco Bottazzo, and uncovered
an autoimmune basis for numerous diseases, including pernicious anemia, primary biliary cirrhosis, and
type I diabetes [1][5] This led to the concept of organ-specific auto-immunity.[8]
In the 1960s, she joined the then-new Department of Immunology at Middlesex where she was appointed
as one of the first Consultant Immunopathologists. In 1974 she became Professor of Clinical
Immunology.[5][8]
Awards and honours

Van Meter prize of the American Goitre Association (jointly with Ivan Roitt), 1957[5]
Gairdner Award Toronto (jointly with Ivan Roitt), 1964[5]
Prize of the British Postgraduate Federation, 1967[8]
Woman Scientist of the Year prize of the Association of American Women Scientists, 1984[8]
Selected works
Berg, PA; Doniach, D; Roitt, IM (1967). "Mitochondrial antibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis.
I. Localization of the antigen to mitochondrial membranes" (http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/a
bstract/126/2/277). The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 126 (2): 277–90.
doi:10.1084/jem.126.2.277 (https://doi.org/10.1084%2Fjem.126.2.277). PMC 2138313 (http
s://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2138313). PMID 4165742 (https://pubmed.ncbi.n
lm.nih.gov/4165742).
Roitt, I. M.; Campbell, P. N.; Doniach, Deborah (June 1958). "The nature of the thyroid auto-
antibodies present in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (lymphadenoid goitre)" (https://ww
w.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1196545). Biochemical Journal. 69 (2): 248–256.
doi:10.1042/bj0690248 (https://doi.org/10.1042%2Fbj0690248). PMC 1196545 (https://www.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1196545). PMID 13546173 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/13546173).
Bottazzo, G F; Doniach, D (1986). "Autoimmune Thyroid Disease" (https://deepblue.lib.umic
h.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65307/1/j.1365-4362.1981.tb00464.x.pdf) (PDF). Annual Review of
Medicine. 37: 353–9. doi:10.1146/annurev.me.37.020186.002033 (https://doi.org/10.1146%
2Fannurev.me.37.020186.002033). PMID 2871804 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28718
04).
References
1. "Milestones in European Thyroidology (MET): Deborah Doniach (1912–2004)" (http://www.e
urothyroid.com/about/met/doniach.html). European Thyroid Association. Retrieved
1 November 2012.
2. Roitt, Ivan (2008). "Doniach [née Abileah], Deborah". Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93114 (https://doi.org/
10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F93114). (Subscription or UK public library membership (https://w
ww.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.)
3. Bahn, Rebecca; Doniach, Tabitha; McLachlan, Sandra (12 May 2020). "Deborah Doniach:
Discovering Thyroid Autoimmunity: The End of Horror Autotoxicus". Thyroid. 30 (7): 942–
947. doi:10.1089/thy.2020.0124 (https://doi.org/10.1089%2Fthy.2020.0124).
PMID 32303157 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32303157). S2CID 215810586 (https://ap
i.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:215810586).
4. "Professor Deborah Doniach" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1452325/Profes
sor-Deborah-Doniach.html). The Daily Telegraph. 23 January 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
5. Brostoff, Jonathan (15 January 2004). "Deborah Doniach" (https://www.theguardian.com/soc
iety/2004/jan/15/health.obituaries). The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
6. Leslier, David; Bottazzo, Gian-Franco. "Deborah Doniach" (https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/in
spiring-physicians/deborah-doniach). Munk's Roll Volume XI. Royal College of Physicians.
Retrieved 11 July 2020.
7. Richmond, Caroline (7 February 2004). "Deborah Doniach" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p
mc/articles/PMC338119). BMJ. 328 (7435): 351. doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7435.351 (https://doi.
org/10.1136%2Fbmj.328.7435.351). PMC 338119 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article
s/PMC338119).
8. Wright, Pearce (20 March 2004). "Deborah Doniach" (http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/
article/PIIS0140-6736%2804%2915809-1/fulltext). The Lancet. 363 (9413): 995.
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)15809-1 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0140-6736%2804%2915
809-1). S2CID 54430587 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:54430587). Retrieved
1 November 2012.
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Deborah Doniach

Deborah Doniach (née Abileah; 6 April 1912 – 1

Early and personal life

Awards and honours

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deborah_Doniach&oldid=1249921446"

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