Jane Stafford

Jane Stafford (1899 to 1991) was an American medical writer and chemist who spent her career explaining laboratory and clinical science to newspaper readers and the public. A Chicago native with a chemistry degree from Smith College, she worked as a chemical technician at Evanston Hospital and as an assistant editor at the American Medical Association's magazine Hygeia before joining Science Service in 1928 as a medical staff writer. There she wrote for the press and produced a nationally syndicated newspaper column, Your Health - Here's How, covering cancer, polio, heart disease, influenza and vitamins. In 1956 she moved to the National Institutes of Health, where she interpreted research for journalists and rose to assistant director of the Office of Information. She co-founded the National Association of Science Writers, served as its first female president in 1945, and led the Women's National Press Club from 1949 to 1950.