Denise Albe-Fessard

Dr. Denise G. Albe-Fessard (French pronunciation: [dəniz albəfesaʁ] (listen); 31 May 1916 – 7 May 2003) was a French neuroscientist best known for her basic research into the central nervous system pain pathways, clarifying the distinction between lateral and medial thalamic pain processing.^[1] She graduated with a degree in engineering from the School of Physique et Chimie de Paris in 1937 and received a Doctor és Sciences degree from Paris University in 1950. She was a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour and an Officer of the Order of Merit.^[2] Early on, Albe-Fessard studied the electrical activity of electric fish. Her work on microelectrode recordings of a cat's cerebral cortex in the 1950s was one of the first intracellular recordings of a mammalian brain.^[3] She was the first president of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) between 1975–1978.^[4]

Education and early life[]

Denise Albe-Fessard was born in Paris, France during the First World War to parents from farmer and artisan backgrounds. Her father was a railway engineer who aided in the construction of tracks that carried soldiers and ammunition to the front lines. She was the youngest child out of four and had the opportunity to receive the same education as her two brothers since it was more acceptable in Paris than the provinces her family originated from. ^[1]

At the age of 10, she passed a competitive scholarship examination in her state primary school and received a free secondary education.^[1]

She proceeded to study an engineering degree at ESPCI Paris, specializing in physics under the advice of her brother not to pursue medicine due to issues women in the field faced.^[1]

Career and research[]

After graduating ESPCI Paris in 1937, she struggled to find work as a female physicist and joined Rhône-Poulenc as a chemist. After a month, she quit and joined the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) as a technical assistant along with Daniel Auger, a plant electrophysiologist. Working with amplifiers to measure electrical potentials of Nitella introduced Madame Albe-Fessard to the limitations of recording bio-electric phenomena. ^[1]

During her work with Daniel Auger, she met Alfred Fessard, whom she'd marry in 1942. ^[1]

Honours and awards[]

• Knight of the Legion of Honour (1973)^[1]
• Officer of the Odre national du Mérite (1978)^[1]
• Elected as the first president of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) (1975-1978)^[4]

Publications[]

• Atlas stéréotaxique du diencéphale du rat blanc, 1966
• La Douleur : ses mécanismes et les bases de ses traitements, 1996

References[]

Further reading[]

• Barraquer-Bordas L. (Nov 2003). "In memoriam. Denise Albe Fessard (1916-2003)". Revista de Neurología (in Spanish). 37 (9): 898–900. PMID 14606060.
• Berkley, K. J. (2004). "Madame Albe-Fessard: A meaningful legacy". European Journal of Pain. London, England. 8 (2): 95–7. doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2003.11.008. PMID 14987613.
• Rokyta, Richard (2004). "In memoriam of Professor Denise Albe-Fessard". European Journal of Pain. London, England. 8 (2): 107–108. doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2003.11.013.
• Larry R. Squire, ed. (1996). "Denise Albe-Fessard". The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography VOLUME 1. Washington D.C: Society for Neuroscience. ISBN 0-916110-51-6.

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