Ann J. Johanson
Ann J. Johanson (1934 – 2020) was an American pediatric endocrinologist.
An accomplished athlete, inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame at Webster Groves High School and recipient of the school’s Life Time Achievement award. She lettered in varsity basketball, softball, volleyball and field hockey as a premedical student at Washington University.
Pioneer in pediatric endocrinology and Professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Johanson gained an international reputation in short stature syndromes; growth disorders and the clinical use of human growth hormone. Johanson left academic medicine in 1983 to head the human growth hormone division at Genentech Corporation in San Francisco.
Eponymously remembered for her description of Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome in 1971
Biography
- Born July 19, 1934 in St. Louis, Missouri a fifth generation physician dating back to her Norwegian forebearers
- 1956 – AB in Physical Education at Washington University, St. Louis
- 1962 – MD, University of Missouri, Columbia – graduating top of her class
- 1962 – Internship at the University of Minnesota
- 1963 – Residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- 1965 – Fellowship in endocrinology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
- 1969-1983 Pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine rising to become the first female full professor in pediatrics. Founding Director of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
- 1983-2003 Working at Genentech (biotechnology company in California) in the endocrine clinical research department. Ann went on to become the first female endocrinology director at the company. She developed synthetic recombinant human growth hormone (rHGH) for clinical use to improve the lives of children deficient in growth hormone.
- Died January 30th, 2020 in Sanibel, Florida
Medical Eponyms
Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome (1971)
Johanson-Blizzard syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by poor growth, mental retardation, and variable dysmorphic features, including aplasia or hypoplasia of the nasal alae, abnormal hair patterns or scalp defects, and oligodontia. Other features include hypothyroidism, sensorineural hearing loss, imperforate anus, and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (Al-Dosari 2008)
Three female patients are presented with a syndrome of low birth weight, dwarfism, aplastlc aIae nasi, midline ectodermal scalp dejects, microcephaly, deafness, thyroid dysfunction, rectourogenital abnormalities, motor-mental retardation, and absent permanent tooth buds. Growth rates were improved with thyroid therapy, but height and motor-mental development remained severely retarded during short term follow-up.
Johanson and Blizzard 1971
Major Publications
- Jones GS, De Moraes Ruehsen M, Johanson AJ, Raiti S, Bilzzard RM. Elucidation of normal ovarian physiology by exogenous gondaotropin stimulation following steroid pituitary suppression. Fertil Steril. 1969;20(1):14-34
- Johanson AJ, Guyda H, Light C, Migeon CJ, Blizzard RM. Serum luteinizing hormone by radioimmunoassay in normal children. J Pediatr. 1969;74(3):416-424.
- Guyda HJ, Johanson AJ, Migeon CJ, Blizzard RM. Determination of serum luteinizing hormone (SLH) by radioimmunoassay in disorders of adolescent sexual development. Pediatr Res. 1969;3(6):538-544
- Penny R, Guyda HJ, Baghdassarian A, Johanson AJ, Blizzard RM. Correlation of serum follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) as measured by radioimmunoassay in disorders of sexual development. J Clin Invest. 1970;49(10):1847-1852.
- Johanson A, Blizzard R. A syndrome of congenital aplasia of the alae nasi, deafness, hypothyroidism, dwarfism, absent permanent teeth, and malabsorption. J Pediatr. 1971;79(6):982-987.
- Varma MM, Varma RR, Johanson AJ, Kowarski A, Migeon CJ. Long-term effects of vasectomy on pituitary-gonadal function in man. J Clin Endocrinol. 1975;40(5):868-871.
- August GP, Lippe BM, Blethen SL, et al. Growth hormone treatment in the United States: demographic and diagnostic features of 2331 children. J Pediatr. 1990;116(6):899-903.
- Blethen SL, Baptista J, Kuntze J, Foley T, LaFranchi S, Johanson A. Adult height in growth hormone (GH)-deficient children treated with biosynthetic GH. The Genentech Growth Study Group. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997;82(2):418-420.
- Rosenfeld RG, Attie KM, Frane J, et al. Growth hormone therapy of Turner’s syndrome: beneficial effect on adult height. J Pediatr. 1998;132(2):319-324.
References
Biography
- Ann Johanson AB ’56. Washington University in St Louis
- Ann J. Johanson M.D.1934 – 2020. St Louis Post – Dispatch on Feb. 9, 2020
Eponym
- Al-Dosari MS, Al-Muhsen S, Al-Jazaeri A, Mayerle J, Zenker M, Alkuraya FS. Johanson-Blizzard syndrome: report of a novel mutation and severe liver involvement. Am J Med Genet A. 2008;146A(14):1875-1879.
- OMIM Clinical Synopsis – #243800 – Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome
- Johanson-Blizzard Syndrome. #243800. OMIM
Studied at Univerisity of Cambridge - BA MB BChir. British doctor working in emergency medicine in Perth, Australia. Special interests include primary care and emergency medicine.
