Helen Ranney

[1] Ranney was born in Summer Hill, New York,[2] where her parents ran a dairy farm.

"[2] She initially faced barriers to continuing her medical education at Columbia university based on her gender.

However, policy changes during World War II allowed for her admission to the College of Physicians and Surgeons[3] at Columbia University.

[4] Ranney was a professor at Harvard Medical School and a staff physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Additionally, she was also one of the first women to be admitted to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and was the first woman honored as a Distinguished Physician of the Veterans Administration.