Dorothy Hansine Andersen was a pioneer in many respects.  At a time when only 5% of practicing physicians in the United States, Andersen held both an MD and a Doctor of Medical Science degree.

After being rejected for a surgical residency because she was a woman, Andersen took a position as a pathologist at Babies Hospital (now NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital). That was where she created her legacy by discovering cystic fibrosis.

While performing an autopsy of a 3-year-old girl diagnosed with celiac disease, Andersen found the patient’s lungs in grisly condition and the pancreas riddled with fibrous cysts. After noticing similar reports from other pathologists, she began her own research, writing the authors of journal articles and requesting pancreatic tissue samples. In 1938, Andersen published a paper describing nearly 50 patients with the disease’s hallmark symptoms.

Andersen's landmark paper began a broader dialogue around the new disease. Her work shifted from pathologist to pediatrician as families came from all over to seek her care.  Eventually, Andersen become the founding physician, leading expert, and de facto matriarch of cystic fibrosis.