Founder Cancer Research Institute: Helen Coley Nauts: Advocate for Immunotherapy

Helen Coley Nauts: Advocate for Immunotherapy

 

Helen Coley Nauts Founder  Cancer Research Institute  collection Cancer Research Institute

 

 

 

 

 

Helen Coley Nauts, a remarkable woman dedicated to the pioneering work of her father, Dr. William B. Coley.

Above is the oil portrait I was commissioned to create for the Cancer Research Institute. I will never forget the memorable day I spent with this amazing, charming and engaging woman. I chose to paint Helen with her hand on her chin as this was a characteristic gesture and a small portrait of her father, Dr. Coley, beside her.

 Here is some information about this amazing woman.

On January 27, 1953, Helen Coley Nauts and her devoted friend Oliver R. Grace Sr., founded the Cancer Research Institute with a grant of $2,000 from Nelson Rockefeller.

  Helen had no formal medical training, yet recognized the potential significance of the pioneering work of her father, Dr. William B. Coley. She taught herself oncology and immunology in order to interpret and publish detailed case histories of cancer patients treated with Coley's toxins, a bacterial cocktail that we now understand stimulated the patient's immune system to fight cancer. This was the beginning of Cancer immunology.

 

Also, an image of my portrait of Helen Coley Nauts hangs  in the collection of the United States National Library of Medicine, see article below:

Posted by Circulating Now on April 19, 2016 in Collections, Prints & Photographs | 5 Comments

 https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2016/04/19/helen-coley-nauts-advocate-for-immunotherapy/

 

The article features my oil portrait of Helen Coley Nauts commissioned by The Cancer Research Institute. An image of my portrait of Helen Coley Nauts is now in the collection of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Douglas Atkins of the U.S. National Library of Medicine has written a wonderful and timely blog about Helen Coley Nauts, the founder of The Cancer Research Institute, and her father Dr. William Coley, the father of cancer immunology. To read the informative blog on the U.S. Library of Medicine Circulating Now site click on this link:
https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2016/04/19/helen-coley-nauts-advocate-for-immunotherapy/

To see more of my commissioned portraiture and art work, please visit: www.susandurkee.com