Photo of Rita Levi-Montalcini in her lab circa 1959, holding a mouse. Much of the nerve growth activity was found in the part of the mixture that contained membranes and ribosomes from the endoplasmic reticulum. When the tumors were blended to open up the cells inside and transplanted into chick embryos, they discovered that these mixtures also encouraged nerve growth compared to the intact tumors. To learn more about cell and neural growth, Rita looked at mouse sarcomas, which are tumors found in tissues like bone or muscle. They were both co-awarded 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Rita Levi-Montalcini co-discovered nerve growth factor (NGF) with Dr. In addition, she overcame the traditional view of women’s role in academia at the time.Īre there other scientists/research examples that this example can replace or be added to? Is (or was) their research under-valued because of their identity?Īs a Jewish person living under Mussolini’s reign, Levi-Montalcini was restricted from researching and working at Italian universities due to anti-Semitic laws. Rita Levi-Montalcini died on December 30, 2012, at the age of 103. Suffice to say, she was a heavily revered scientist, receiving many other awards and honors alongside the Nobel Prize. In 1969, she established the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the Italian National Research Council in Rome, serving as its director until 1979. In 1962, she established a lab at the Higher Institute of Health in Rome, thus dividing her time between St. Louis and staying there for the next 30 years. She accepted the invitation in 1947, moving to St. Louis, and he invited Rita to join him as a collaborator. Her research caught the attention of Viktor Hamburger, who was the head of the Zoology Department of Washington University in St. By May 1945, the war in Italy had ended and she returned with her family to Turin, where she continued her academic position at the university. In 1943, Germany invaded Italy, forcing the family to move to Florence and to live underground until the end of the war. In 1941, her family was forced to leave Turin due to heavy Allied bombing of the city, but Rita rebuilt her lab in her family’s country cottage in the Piedmontese hills. Despite this, Rita set up lab equipment in her bedroom, continuing her research on the nerve growth fibers in chicken embryos. Unfortunately, at this time, Mussolini issued laws that prevented Italian Jewish people from practicing medicine or working in universities. In 1940, she graduated with a specialization degree in neurology and psychiatry.

However, at 20 years old, Rita realized she could not fulfill her father’s vision of a traditional woman and persuaded him to allow her to study medicine at the University of Turin. As the head of the household, her father made all of the decisions and, therefore, restricted Rita and her two sisters from attending university.

Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, Italy on April 22, 1909, as the youngest of four children of an intellectual, yet traditional, Victorian family.

For this discovery, she was co-awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Rita Levi-Montalcini was an Italian Jewish neurobiologist, who co-discovered nerve growth factor (NGF) with Dr. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(13), 4873-4876. Rita Levi-Montalcini: NGF, the prototypical growth factor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 40(10): 1014–1018. A nerve growth-stimulating factor isolated from sarcomas 37 and 180. Note: click the gear symbol to see notes that accompany the presentationĬohen, S., Levi-Montalcini, R., & Hamburger, V. Nerve Growth Stimulating Factor is isolated, paving the way for important medical advancementsĬontributed by: Mahal Bugay Cancer, Cellular biology, Europe, Experimental, Fundamental research, Historical figure, Italian, Jewish, Lab, Medicine, Neurobiology, North America, Peripheral nervous system, Physiology, Sympathetic nervous system, Theory/Computational, Woman Slides

Rita levi montalcini