Dr. Jane C. Wright (1919-2013): The Architect of Modern Chemotherapy and Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright (1919-2013) was a trailblazing African American surgeon-scientist who transformed cancer chemotherapy from an experimental last resort into a cornerstone of modern oncology. Over a career spanning 40 years, she and her collaborators pioneered human tissue-culture methods to test anti-cancer drugs, introduced nitrogen mustard and methotrexate therapies, and advocated for novel multi-drug combination regimens. Dr. Wright held major research and clinical leadership positions and was instrumental in the founding of many eminent organizations/bodies, including the Chemotherapy Department at New York Medical College and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which she co-founded in 1964. As an African American woman, she overcame pervasive racial and gender barriers to become the highest-ranking Black woman physician in U.S. medicine by the 1960s. This article reviews Dr. Wright's scientific contributions in chemotherapy development and clinical research, her personal and educational background (including the influence of her father, Dr. Louis T. Wright), and her enduring impact on cancer care and medical leadership.