Neva Irene Martin Abelson, 89, a pediatrician who worked in the 1940s on a breakthrough test for Rh antibodies with Louis K. Diamond and was long affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania medical school, died of cancer Sept. 26 at her home in Washington.
Dr. Abelson, a native of Lamar, Mo., was a chemistry graduate of what is now Washington State University and a 1942 graduate of Johns Hopkins University medical school.
In 1944, she went to Boston to work with Diamond on a fellowship sponsored by Harvard University and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Diamond was a pioneer in researching blood group incompatibility between a mother and a fetus.
At Harvard, Dr. Abelson helped Diamond develop a slide test for antibodies that made testing a rapid and more-useful clinical tool.
Simultaneously, Dr. Abelson joined the staff at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school. She retired in 1971 as a pathology professor and came to the Washington area with her husband, Dr. Philip H. Abelson, who became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and editor of Science magazine.
She wrote a book, "Topics in Blood Banking," published in 1974. She also wrote numerous papers on topics such as the diagnosis and treatment of erythroblastosis fetalis and the physiochemical characteristics of blood group antibodies.
Her honors include the American Association of Blood Banks' Emily Cooley Memorial Award.
Survivors include her husband since 1936, of Washington; a daughter, Dr. Ellen A. Cherniavsky of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.
Dr. Abelson, a native of Lamar, Mo., was a chemistry graduate of what is now Washington State University and a 1942 graduate of Johns Hopkins University medical school.
In 1944, she went to Boston to work with Diamond on a fellowship sponsored by Harvard University and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Diamond was a pioneer in researching blood group incompatibility between a mother and a fetus.
At Harvard, Dr. Abelson helped Diamond develop a slide test for antibodies that made testing a rapid and more-useful clinical tool.
Simultaneously, Dr. Abelson joined the staff at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school. She retired in 1971 as a pathology professor and came to the Washington area with her husband, Dr. Philip H. Abelson, who became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and editor of Science magazine.
She wrote a book, "Topics in Blood Banking," published in 1974. She also wrote numerous papers on topics such as the diagnosis and treatment of erythroblastosis fetalis and the physiochemical characteristics of blood group antibodies.
Her honors include the American Association of Blood Banks' Emily Cooley Memorial Award.
Survivors include her husband since 1936, of Washington; a daughter, Dr. Ellen A. Cherniavsky of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.
Neva Irene Martin Abelson, 89, a pediatrician who worked in the 1940s on a breakthrough test for Rh antibodies with Louis K. Diamond and was long affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania medical school, died of cancer Sept. 26 at her home in Washington.
Dr. Abelson, a native of Lamar, Mo., was a chemistry graduate of what is now Washington State University and a 1942 graduate of Johns Hopkins University medical school.
In 1944, she went to Boston to work with Diamond on a fellowship sponsored by Harvard University and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Diamond was a pioneer in researching blood group incompatibility between a mother and a fetus.
At Harvard, Dr. Abelson helped Diamond develop a slide test for antibodies that made testing a rapid and more-useful clinical tool.
Simultaneously, Dr. Abelson joined the staff at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school. She retired in 1971 as a pathology professor and came to the Washington area with her husband, Dr. Philip H. Abelson, who became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and editor of Science magazine.
She wrote a book, "Topics in Blood Banking," published in 1974. She also wrote numerous papers on topics such as the diagnosis and treatment of erythroblastosis fetalis and the physiochemical characteristics of blood group antibodies.
Her honors include the American Association of Blood Banks' Emily Cooley Memorial Award.
Survivors include her husband since 1936, of Washington; a daughter, Dr. Ellen A. Cherniavsky of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.
Dr. Abelson, a native of Lamar, Mo., was a chemistry graduate of what is now Washington State University and a 1942 graduate of Johns Hopkins University medical school.
In 1944, she went to Boston to work with Diamond on a fellowship sponsored by Harvard University and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Diamond was a pioneer in researching blood group incompatibility between a mother and a fetus.
At Harvard, Dr. Abelson helped Diamond develop a slide test for antibodies that made testing a rapid and more-useful clinical tool.
Simultaneously, Dr. Abelson joined the staff at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school. She retired in 1971 as a pathology professor and came to the Washington area with her husband, Dr. Philip H. Abelson, who became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and editor of Science magazine.
She wrote a book, "Topics in Blood Banking," published in 1974. She also wrote numerous papers on topics such as the diagnosis and treatment of erythroblastosis fetalis and the physiochemical characteristics of blood group antibodies.
Her honors include the American Association of Blood Banks' Emily Cooley Memorial Award.
Survivors include her husband since 1936, of Washington; a daughter, Dr. Ellen A. Cherniavsky of Silver Spring; and two grandchildren.
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