Berta Scharrer

Berta Vogel Scharrer (December 1, 1906 – July 23, 1995) was an American scientist who helped to found the scientific discipline now known as neuroendocrinology.

Berta Vogel Scharrer was born December 8, 1906, in Munich, Germany, into a prosperous, well-educated family.

Her father, Karl Phillip Vogel was a judge serving as vice president of the Federal Court of Bavaria.

As a young student she became interested in biology, and knew she wanted to be a biologist from a young age.

She received her Ph.D. from the University of Munich in 1930.

Berta Vogel married Ernst Scharrer in 1934.

They met as graduate students working under von Frisch.

Berta Scharrer was forced to emigrate at the onset of the Holocaust in 1937.

She arrived with Ernst in the United States with a total of eight dollars.

Ernst had secured a Rockefeller Fellowship at the University of Chicago and Berta continued her research, initially working with Drosophila and later with cockroaches and related species for the remainder of her research career.

The couple's academic journey took them to various institutions, with Ernst accepting academic appointments that determined their locations.

Throughout their career, they conducted groundbreaking research on neurosecretion, investigating the connection between the nervous and endocrine systems.

Berta specialized in the study of invertebrates, while Ernst focused on vertebrates.

The couple fled Germany in 1937 when Ernst accepted a Rockefeller Fellowship at the University of Chicago.

They later became U.S. citizens in 1945.

In 1955, they founded the Department of Anatomy at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

It was at this point that Berta received her first salaried academic appointment, and she played an integral role in the department, not only as a scientist but also as a dedicated teacher.

As her career progressed, Berta made significant contributions to the study of neuropeptides and neuroimmunology, entering these emerging fields in her later years and serving as the associate editor of the journal Advances in Immunology.

Ernst died in 1965 in a swimming accident.

The couple had no children.

Scharrer was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1967.

She worked at the university with Professor Karl von Frisch, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 for his work with bees.

After completing her education, Berta and her husband, Ernst Scharrer embarked on a remarkable scientific career together.

Their journey began at the Research Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, where Berta focused on the study of spirochaete infections in the brains of birds and amphibians.

She earned honorary degrees from various universities, including one from Harvard in 1982, "as well as a nomination for a Nobel Prize for her pioneering research in brain chemicals".

Berta received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including the National Medal of Science from President Ronald Reagan in 1983.

Her work left a lasting impact on the fields of neurobiology and endocrinology, and she remains a respected and influential figure among anatomists.

In 1983, she was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Reagan, for "demonstrating the central role of neurosecretion and neuropeptides in the integration of animal function and development."

Scharrer's studies of invertebrates, particularly cockroaches, was so extensive that her name was given to a species of cockroach, known as the Escala scharrerae, found in Australasia.

Scharrer was awarded the Schleiden Medal in 1983 and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Her passion for research persisted until her passing in 1995 at the age of 88.

Scharrer conducted research and taught at Einstein College until her retirement in 1995, five months before her death at age 88.