Dolores Cooper Shockley

Dr. Dolores C. Shockley (April 21, 1930[1] – October 10, 2020)[2] was the first black woman to receive a PhD in Pharmacology in the United States and one of the first African American students to receive a PhD from Purdue University.[3][4][5] After obtaining her PhD she became faculty at the historically black school Meharry Medical College where she subsequently became the first black woman to chair a Pharmacology department in the United States in 1988.[3] Her research contributions included studying the effects of chemical pollutants on the brain and identifying pharmacological agents that interact with drugs of abuse such as cocaine. She was a distinguished scholar and emeritus professor at Meharry Medical College.[6]

Dolores Cooper Shockley
Born(1930-04-21)April 21, 1930
Clarksdale, Mississippi
DiedOctober 10, 2020(2020-10-10) (aged 90)
Nashville, Tennessee
NationalityAmerican
Alma materXavier University
Purdue University
Known forNeurotoxicity first black woman to receive PhD in Pharmacology in the U.S.
AwardsLederle Faculty Award,
Scientific career
FieldsPharmacology and Neuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity of Copenhagen Meharry Medical College

Early life and education

Dolores C. Shockley was born in 1930 in Mississippi. Shockley grew up in a segregated society in the small rural town of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where at the time black and white children attended different schools.[3] Shockley said in an interview that her school in Clarksdale had very few school supplies and that she learned her science from chemistry sets at home.[3] Motivated by the lack of a drug store to serve the black community in Clarksdale, Shockley decided to pursue a degree in pharmacology during college with the initial idea of starting a pharmacy in her hometown although she later decided to pursue a research career.[5] Shockley attended Xavier University of Louisiana where she completed a bachelors in pharmacology in 1951. She decided to pursue a graduate degree and attended Purdue University from 1951 to 1955 where she became one of the first black students to receive a PhD from the institution.[3] During graduate school she experienced racism when trying to rent a room outside campus.[3] During an interview Shockley said that while at West Lafayette, Indiana some people refused to serve her. About this Shockley said "This was extremely hurtful because you never knew when you would be rejected or refused. I went to my room and cried several times. But my zealous commitment to succeed propelled me to work harder to overcome my lack of prior experience."[7] While Shockley was at Purdue University in 1950s black students were not allowed to get haircuts on the student center which prompted Shockley and other students to petition the president to revert this.[7] In addition, Shockley became an activist in her community by joining a group of diversity students called "Panel of Americans", which consisted of a group of students from different ethnicities and races that visited churches and community organizations to talk about how they too were Americans. Regarding her work in this student group Shockley said "I believe or hope that we dispelled some of the fallacy of racial, ethnic and religious inferiority".[7]

Career and research

Shockley became the first black woman to receive a PhD in Pharmacology.[3] After finishing her PhD she received a Fulbright Fellowship and worked with Dr. Knud Moller at the Pharmacology Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark from 1955 to 1957.[3] When Shockley returned to the U.S. she was offered a job at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee as an assistant professor. When Shockley complained that her salary offer was lower than that of all men, her department chair said that as a married woman she did not deserve the same salary; despite these challenges she continued to fight for salary equity.[3] In 1967 Shockley became an associate professor at Meharry and in 1988 she became the chair of the Pharmacology Department making her the first black woman to be the chair of a Pharmacology Department in the United States.[8] During her time as a chairperson Shockley focused on improving the Pharmacology PhD program funding and training quality at Meharry.[3] In efforts to expand training opportunities for students at her institution, Shockley started a collaboration with Vanderbilt University in which they shared student seminar series and department retreats.[9][10] The PhD Program at Meharry led by Shockley awarded degrees to the majority of black pharmacologists in the country.[3] Shockley served on many national committees including NIH, NSF, NRC, and FDA committees and held office in the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).[8]

Shockley had two main lines of research, one related to neurotoxicity of pollutants and one related to identifying pharmacological agents that interact with cocaine with the goal of developing therapies for drug abuse. Shockley studied how pollutants such as benzo(a)pyrene and fluoranthene affect the nervous system. Her research showed that these pollutants have neurotoxic and behavioral effects.[11][12] Furthermore, her research showed that the effects of benzo(a)pyrene, which is present in tobacco smoke and grilled meats, are mediated by oxidative stress.[13] In addition, Shockley researched how calcium blockers affect the neurotoxic and behavioral effects of stimulants, such as cocaine, with the goal of identifying potential pharmacological agent to act as antidote to cocaine toxicity.[14][15][16] Her research identified that Israpidine, a calcium channel antagonist, decreased the behavioral effects of cocaine in rats.[17]

During an interview in 1997 Shockley was asked what her biggest accomplishment in science was to which she said being an educator and the work she did to improve the PhD training program at Meharry, which was serving a predominantly African American student population.[3] Related to her contributions Shockley said “I’ve tried to reinstate and strongly promote graduate education [at Meharry]. About half of all the minority PhD’s in pharmacology have come from our program. I think this will be my greatest contribution".[3]

Awards and honors

Shockley was a distinguished alumni for Xavier University of Louisiana[18] and Purdue University.[19] Shockley received the Lederle Faculty Award from 1963–1966.[8] Many scientific organizations and societies have created awards in Dr. Dolores C. Shockley's honor. In 2010, the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics established a travel award in her honor for underrepresented students to attend their Annual meeting. In 2009, The Dolores C. Shockley Lectureship and Mentoring Award was inaugurated at the School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, in honor of the collaborative work Shockley did with the department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt.[20] In 2017 the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology presented the Dolores Shockley Minority Mentoring Award to recognize college members who have successfully mentored young scientists from underrepresented minorities in the field of Neuropsychopharmacology.[21]

Personal life

Dr. Dolores C. Shockley married Dr. Thomas E. Shockley, a microbiologist. Shockley had four children and was married for 43 years until Thomas died.[8]

Shockley died on October 10, 2020 in Nashville aged 90.[2]

References
  1. https://obits.tennessean.com/obituaries/tennessean/obituary.aspx?n=dolores-cooper-shockley&pid=196940496&fhid=14238
  2. "Dr. Dolores Shockley, first Black woman to get a Ph.D. in pharmacology in US, dies at 90". Tennessean. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. Jordan, Diann (2006). Sisters in Science: Conversations with Black Women Scientists about Race, Gender, and Their Passion for Science. Purdue University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-55753-445-3.
  4. Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2007). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Infobase Publishing. p. 663. ISBN 978-1-4381-1882-6.
  5. Diaz, Sara (3 March 2007). "Dolores Cooper Shockley (1930- )". Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  6. "professor emeriti, Distinguished Scholars". www.mmc.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  7. "Dolores Shockley: In Her Own Words | Purdue College of Pharmacy". www.pharmacy.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  8. "Dr. Delores Cooper Shockley - Minority Engineering Program - Purdue University". www.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  9. "Dolores C. Shockley Lecture 2018". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  10. "Pharmacology". Meharry Medical College. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  11. Saunders, Crystal R; Ramesh, Aramandla; Shockley, Dolores C (2002-03-24). "Modulation of neurotoxic behavior in F-344 rats by temporal disposition of benzo(a)pyrene". Toxicology Letters. 129 (1): 33–45. doi:10.1016/S0378-4274(01)00467-2. ISSN 0378-4274. PMID 11879972.
  12. Saunders, Crystal R.; Shockley, Dolores C.; Knuckles, Maurice E. (July 2003). "Fluoranthene-Induced Neurobehavioral Toxicity in F-344 Rats". International Journal of Toxicology. 22 (4): 263–276. doi:10.1080/10915810305114. ISSN 1091-5818. PMID 12933321. S2CID 44876711.
  13. Saunders, Crystal R.; Das, Salil K.; Ramesh, Aramandla; Shockley, Dolores C.; Mukherjee, Shyamali (2006). "Benzo(a)pyrene-induced acute neurotoxicity in the F-344 rat: role of oxidative stress". Journal of Applied Toxicology. 26 (5): 427–438. doi:10.1002/jat.1157. ISSN 1099-1263. PMID 16858674.
  14. Ansah, Twum-Ampofo; Wade, Littleton H; Shockley, Dolores C (1996-11-01). "Changes in Locomotor Activity, Core Temperature, and Heart Rate in Response to Repeated Cocaine Administration". Physiology & Behavior. 60 (5): 1261–1267. doi:10.1016/S0031-9384(96)00250-8. ISSN 0031-9384. PMID 8916180. S2CID 22710775.
  15. Mills, K.; Ansah, T. A.; Ali, S. F.; Mukherjee, S.; Shockley, D. C. (2007-07-26). "Augmented behavioral response and enhanced synaptosomal calcium transport induced by repeated cocaine administration are decreased by calcium channel blockers". Life Sciences. 81 (7): 600–608. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2007.06.028. ISSN 0024-3205. PMC 2765982. PMID 17689567.
  16. Ansah, Twum-Ampofo; Wade, Littleton H.; Kopsombut, Prapaporn; Shockley, Dolores C. (2002-02-01). "Nifedipine potentiates the toxic effects of cocaine in mice". Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 26 (2): 357–362. doi:10.1016/S0278-5846(01)00281-0. ISSN 0278-5846. PMID 11817514. S2CID 42944469.
  17. Mills, K.; Ansah, T. A.; Ali, S. F.; Shockley, D. C. (1998). "Calcium Channel Antagonist Isradipine Attenuates Cocaine-Induced Motor Activity in Rats: Correlation with Brain Monoamine Levelsa". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 844 (1): 201–207. Bibcode:1998NYASA.844..201M. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb08235.x. ISSN 1749-6632. PMID 29090812.
  18. "Notable Alumni". www2.xula.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  19. "ASPET | Dolores C. Shockley Poster Award". www.aspet.org. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  20. "Dolores C. Shockley Lecture 2018". Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  21. "Dolores Shockley Mentoring Award" (PDF).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.