Henry Harrington Janeway

Life

Janeway was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on 19 March 19th 1873, and died at his home in Riverdale-on-Hudson, New York on 1 February 1921. Janeway was the son of LTC Jacob Jones Janeway (1840 - 1926), a successful New Jersey wallpaper manufacturer and philanthropist, and Eliza A Harrington Janeway (1843 - 1925). He married Elizabeth Ayers Buckley and they had five children. Elizabeth was the daughter of Dr. Lucius Duncan Buckley and Katherine La Rue Mellick.

He was educated in the Rutgers Preparatory School and graduated from Rutgers College in 1889 followed by post-graduate courses at Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University under Professor Russell Henry Chittenden. Then followed four years in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, after which (1898) he entered Roosevelt Hospital in the surgical division under Charles McBurney. He studied in the clinics of Roosevelt, Skin and Cancer and Lying-in Hospitals. His first five years were given to general practice in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

In 1907 he became associated with his father-in-law, Dr. Bulkley, in his dermatological practice. He remained with him for two years, and during that time made investigations in skin and cancer pathology and wrote articles upon this subject.

In 1909 he was appointed chief of the Laboratory for Experimental Research of Physicians and Surgeons. He did work in blood-pressure, shock and in surgery of the oesophagus and stomach. In 1914 he was appointed Attending Surgeon and Chief of the Radium Department at Memorial Hospital, New York City, where he developed and advanced the use of radium as a therapeutic agent.

Janeway's work with radium in uterine cancer was most notable. He was the first man in this country to advocate radium as the agent of choice in cervical carcinoma; the technique of burying radium emanation in the cervix was original with him and, in fact, all his work with radium emanation needles was primarily original.

His work on conservative surgery plus radium was early recognized. Various procedures, such as the use of dental-modeling compound for improving technique in applying radium, originated in his clinic.

Publications

Janeway's clinical and experimental observations were published in medical journals of his time. His report on Radium Therapy in Cancer, at the Memorial Hospital (1915-1916), which appeared in book form in 1917 was the most comprehensive work of its type published in the United States. Its first chapter, "Physical Considerations Relative to the Application of Radium", was written by Gioacchino Failla. Janeway's 1919 paper on "The Treatment of Uterine Carcinoma" was considered a classic and was written while he was Attending Surgeon and Head of the Radium Department at Memorial Hospital in New York. His other papers, lectures, and books include:

The Janeway Medal and Lectures

In 1933, the American Radium Society founded the annual Janeway Lecture in his honor. The lecturers are chosen for their "outstanding scientific contributions" with the lecture taking place at the society's annual general meeting. The first Janeway Lecture, "Early Experience in Radium Therapy" was given by the pathologist James Ewing. Since 1937 each Janeway Lecturer is also presented with the Janeway Medal, originally struck in bronze but in 1971 changed to gold. The medal was designed by Edward H. Skinner, the American Radium Society's president-elect at the time, and Stephanie Prince, a young artist from Kansas City, Missouri. The design is based on Norse mythology and depicts Odin standing before the giant Mimir seeking to drink from the well of knowledge. The obverse depicts the ravens Hugin (Reflection) and Munin (Remembrance) which became the symbol of the American Radium Society.

Janeway Lectures