Ru Chih Huang, the retired McElroy Honorary Research Professor in the department of biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, passed away on May 31. She was 94.
Dr. Huang received her bachelor’s degree from National Taiwan University. She went on to earn her master’s degree from Virginia Tech and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio State University. In 1960, she began a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology, where she authored her seminal 1962 paper, “Histone, A Suppresor of Chromosomal RNA Synthesis.” The article outlined a new approach to the study of gene expression, which would influence generations of researchers in the years to come.
In 1965, Dr. Huang became the first woman hired to a tenure-track professorship in the physical sciences at Johns Hopkins University. She earned the rank of full professor in 1975 and became the McElroy Honorary Research Professor in 2018.
At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Huang’s lab became the first to transcribe, purify, and translate in vitro the genetic message for the protein immunoglobin, a critical molecule of the immune system. Throughout her tenure, Dr. Huang expanded on this research, applying it to clinical treatments for conditions like HIV and cancer. Her lab ultimately led the development of Terameprocol, which has been shown in lab and mouse studies to be an effective cancer treatment. Over her lifetime, Dr. Huang authored more than 300 papers, held 16 patents, and mentored more than 30 doctoral students and 100 postdocs.