Dame Ida Mann (1893-1983)
EDUCATION
Studied medicine at the London School of Medicine for Women, and ophthalmology at the University of London.
RESEARCH AREA
Ophthalmology
CAREER
- She was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Central London Hospital (later to become the Institute of Ophthalmology) in 1925. In 1927 she became the first female Honorary Consultant to the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (Moorfields), alongside running a private Harley Street practice.
- Mann's DSc from The University of London was published in 1928 as the first definitive book in this country on The Development of the Human Eye.
- In 1941 Mann was chosen as the Margaret Ogilvie Reader in Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, where she established the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology.
- During the war she carried out research into the effects of toxic chemicals on the eye, and collaborated with Sir William Florey on penicillin tests.
- In 1945 she was granted a professorship, the first woman to ever hold the title of Professor in Britain.
- Mann emigrated to Australia in 1949 where she continued to conduct research into the impact of genes and the environment on eye, and investigated the prevalence of eye diseases among aboriginal communities.
- She was awarded a C.B.E. in 1950 and made a Dame in 1980.