Remembering Dr. Olga Blumenfeld
Olga Blumenfeld, Ph.D., professor emerita of biochemistry, passed away on October 31, 2016, at the age of 93. Dr. Blumenfeld was renowned initially for furthering knowledge in the science of human blood group matching for the purpose of human transplantation and, more recently, for genetic analysis of human blood groups.
Olga Blumenfeld, Ph.D.Her research leading to the development of the Blood Group Antigen Gene Mutation Database spanned two decades of painstaking investigation, with assistance from Ph.D. student Santosh Patnaik. To this day, the database serves as a public resource for understanding genetic variation across the human species and is part of the National Library of Medicine. During the 1960s and 1970s, she was also part of one of the first aging research laboratories in the nation.
Among publications originating from her laboratory, a significant number deal with the molecular basis for genomic diversification of a red cell family of glycoproteins, named glycophorins. Her work with colleague Dr. Helen Ranney was among the first to record the unusual hemoglobin known as A1c seen in diabetes; this work was a major contribution to the understanding of diabetes at the time.
“Olga’s professional career was marked by in-depth investigation with a deep personal integrity and modesty,” noted Dr. Vern Schramm, former chair of biochemistry. “It was typical of her to author important genetic contributions without fanfare.”
Dr. Blumenfeld’s association with the College of Medicine began in 1960, when she accepted a postdoctoral position with Drs. Paul Gallop and Sam Seifter that offered the opportunity to work with students. She became a member of the Einstein faculty in 1962 and rose through the ranks to professor in 1972. That same year, she chaired a committee on women at Einstein, and together with colleagues presented “Report of the Senate Committee on Women’s Rights,” which focused on a range of issues including women’s salaries and the low number of female faculty in tenured positions.
Dr. Blumenfeld also represented Einstein at the National Institutes of Health as a Career Investigator, as a member of the Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry Study Section, and as a member of the Aging Review Committee.
Born in Lodz, Poland in 1923, Dr. Blumenfeld fled with her parents to France and Belgium before World War II, and escaped to the United States in 1942. While in France, where she spoke limited French, she decided to study mathematics and science because “science presented no language barriers.” Shortly after her arrival in the United States, she continued her studies at City College, in biochemical engineering. She ultimately switched her field of study to biochemistry, where she was the lone female student. Her mentor, Dr. Benjamin Harrow encouraged her to become a biochemist.
In 1944, she married Serge Blumenfeld, a medical student whom she had met on the boat to the United States and who subsequently became a distinguished family physician. They moved to Colorado two years later, where Dr. Blumenfeld completed her master’s degree at the University of Colorado. Upon returning to New York, she earned her Ph.D. at New York University in 1957.
A devoted family woman, she cherished time with her husband, son and grandchildren, as well as taking long walks at the Rockefeller Preserve with her golden retrievers. Her husband Serge predeceased her by two months. She leaves behind her son Phil, his wife and two grandchildren.
Editor’s Note: We thank Ellen Moore, Ph.D., Class of 1999, for use of her bio about Dr. Blumenfeld, and Phil Blumenfeld for providing writing from his mother that contributed to our “in memoriam” write-up of Dr. Blumenfeld.
Posted on: Wednesday, November 09, 2016