In Memoriam: Rose Papac, M.D.
For Immediate Release
Date: May 2008
Contact: Renee Gaudette, (203) 426-8533 or renee.gaudette@yale.edu
It is with great sadness that we share news of the recent passing of Rose Papac,
M.D., a long-time faculty member of the Section of Medical Oncology in the
Department of Internal Medicine, and one of the early female pioneers in the
field of Medical Oncology. Dr. Papac passed away on May 10, 2008, at the age of
80, after having fought her own battle with cancer for several months.
She was a native of Montesano, Washington, and attended Reed College in
Portland, Oregon, and then studied chemistry at Seattle University, where she
graduated summa cum laude. In 1949, she entered St. Louis University Medical
School, where she was one of the first women to be admitted in to their medical
school. Upon graduating, she stayed on at St. Louis University Medical School
to become the first woman to intern in the Department of Medicine. In 1954,
she moved to the West Coast to Stanford University to complete her Internal
Medicine residency training. It was there that she developed her interest and
passion for oncology, and following the completion of her residency training,
Rose crossed “the pond” to become the first American to take an oncology
fellowship position at the prestigious Chester-Beatty Institute in London,
England. Returning to the U.S., she went to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center to continue her medical oncology fellowship training under the tutelage
of David Karnofsky, one of the early pioneers in cancer drug development. In
1963, she was recruited by Paul Beeson to join the Department of Medicine here
at Yale, where she stayed until her retirement in 2006. Notably, she was the
first woman to be awarded tenure in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale
and one of the very first women to have received tenure in the School of
Medicine.
Rose was a truly remarkable woman who marched to a completely different drummer
than most other young women of her generation. She entered the fields of
Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at a time when there were no female role
models and when there was tremendous gender bias. She was a pioneer in the
field of Medical Oncology as it is known today and played a pivotal role in
developing the modern day concepts of cancer chemotherapy. She worked closely
with the basic scientists at Yale to develop novel clinical trials for head and
neck cancer as well as breast cancer, and she was an early leader in the field
of clinical translational research that is now one of the core missions of the
Yale Cancer Center.
Those who have commented on Rose’s work at Yale have described her as an
outstanding clinician, teacher, and human being, who was completely devoted and
dedicated to her patients with cancer. Her colleagues have referred to Rose as
the quintessential general oncologist, brilliant and wise, with incredibly
sound judgment. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of the clinical literature,
and even after her formal retirement from the faculty, she kept up with the
latest clinical advances. She was a wonderful teacher and mentor to
generations of students, residents, fellows, and in turn, and in return, she
was truly respected and adored by all.
The Medical Oncology community will truly miss this pioneering figure, mentor,
and role model to several generations of Yale faculty, fellows, house staff,
and students. She played a pivotal role in developing the specialty of Medical
Oncology from its very early days, and took great pride in how the entire
discipline has evolved and blossomed. While her Yale family of close friends
and colleagues will deeply miss Rose, her warm-hearted, gentle spirit, her love
for medicine, and her devotion to her patients will forever remain in our
hearts.
Edward Chu
Deputy Director and Chief of Medical Oncology
Yale Cancer Center