Frieda S. Robscheit-Robbins (8 June 1893 – 18 December 1973)[1][2] was a German-born American pathologist who worked closely with George Hoyt Whipple, conducting research into the use of diet in the treatment of long-term anemia, co-authoring 21 papers between 1925 and 1930.
[5] In 2002, a Discover magazine article entitled "The 50 Most Important Women in Science" noted that the contributions of Robscheit-Robbins "deserve greater notice".
[9] Preliminary research was conducted in the early 1920s at the George William Hooper Foundation, University of California, where apricots were found to be valuable in treating induced anaemia in dogs.
[10] Whipple and Robscheit-Robbins decided to experiment using dogs since they were willing to eat a wide variety of foods and large enough in size such that they could be kept in healthy condition despite undergoing frequent blood sampling.
[4] They conducted these experiments by feeding the dogs "salmon bread" over a long period of time to maintain a steady output of hemoglobin.
[12][14] The Matthew-Matilda Effect is the phenomenon in which a person receives credit for an achievement or publication over their co-contributors due to name recognition and/or gender bias.
The Nobel Prize instead went to George Hoyt Whipple and two other male scientists despite Robscheit-Robbins being a co-author for a majority of the publications that were written.