(1899–1968)
As
a medical student graduating from the University of Melbourne in 1922,
Jean Macnamara was part of an exceptional cohort which included Lucy
Bryce, Macfarlane Burnet, Kate Campbell and Jean Littlejohn.
As resident and later clinical assistant (combined with a private practice)
Macnamara specialised early in the treatment of poliomyelitis. The 1925
epidemic prompted her to test the use of immune serum in the treatment
of pre-paralytic patients. In 1931, she published, with Macfarlane Burnet,
their discovery of the existence of more than one strain of polio virus,
work which contributed to the development of the Salk vaccine.
Following travel to America from 1931 to 1933 on a Rockefeller Fellowship,
she devoted herself increasingly to conservative orthopaedics, often
without charging a fee. In 1938, she established a clinic in Carlton,
treating 30 children a day and providing a hot midday meal for them.
As well as establishing country clinics, Macnamara served on numerous
committees dealing with polio. Australia’s first centre for spastic
children was established at the Children’s Hospital on her recommendation.
Macnamara’s second career owed its inspiration to her love of the land.
She was a pioneer in the use of myxomatosis to control rabbits. She
had sent to her samples of the organism from America in 1933 only to
have them dumped in Port Phillip Bay by Customs officials. Later tests
from 1937 to 1944 in dry areas of the country failed to spread the disease,
but a test along the Murray River in 1950 was more successful. In the
1952–53 season, myxomatosis was estimated to have augmented the Australian
wool cheque by £30 million and the growers presented Macnamara with
£800 and a clock. She was awarded an honorary LLD from the University
of Melbourne in 1966.
Jean Macnamara continued to treat patients until her death from heart
disease in 1968.
