Eloise Giblett

Who was Eloise Giblett?

Eloise R. Giblett

She was a genetic scientist and researcher, who died in Seattle, Washington on September 19, 2009. Dr. Giblett was a research professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and also served as the Executive Director of the Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle. The author of over 200 research papers, she also wrote the esteemed tome on Genetic markers, ‘Genetic Markers in Human Blood’.. She spent the majority of her career at the Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle, WA, beginning as a hematologist and attaining the position of Executive Director in 1979, a position she held until her retirement in 1986.

Her numerous medical accomplishments include discovering the first immunodeficiency disease: adenosine deaminase deficiency. She identified and characterized numerous blood group antigens. Her work paved the way for the emergence of safe red cell transfusions. She also applied her understanding of red cell protein polymorphisms to genetic linkage analyses, was senior author on the paper that demonstrated the feasibility of unrelated marrow transplantation for leukemia, and was an early supporter of bone marrow donation.