Rose Frisch

Rose Epstein Frisch (born Rose Epstein; July 7, 1918 – January 30, 2015) was a pioneering American scientist in fertility and human development whose work was instrumental in the discovery of leptin. She researched infertility and discovered that low body fat is a contributing factor to infertility.

Early life and education She was born Rose Epstein in 1918, in the Bronx, to Russian-Jewish immigrants Louis and Stella Epstein. Her brother Lee Eastman (born Leopold Vail Epstein) is Linda McCartney's father. Frisch attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in 1939. She earned her master's degree in zoology the following year at Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Wisconsin in 1943.

Research Focusing on the role of adipose tissue (fat) in fertility, Frisch discovered that low body fat (under 17%) could cause infertility, late menarche, and oligomenorrhea. This discovery was published in the journal Science in 1974. In her work with Grace Wyshak she also discovered that athletes were at lower risk of breast cancer.

Legacy Frisch was widely respected by athletic women, who were often able to achieve a pregnancy in part by applying knowledge gathered from her research.

Honors and awards Guggenheim Fellowship – 1975–1976 Sigma Xi national lecturer – 1988–1990 Fellow of the Bunting Institute – 1993–1994 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rally Day Medal for Medical Research and Reproductive Health (awarded by Smith College) Professor Emeritus Award of Merit, Harvard School of Public Health

Selected publications

Frisch, Rose E. Plants that Feed the World. (1966). Van Nostrand; First Edition (1966). ASIN: B0000CNBFC - children’s book on nutrition Frisch, Rose E. (Ed.). Adipose Tissue and Reproduction (March 1990). S Karger Publishers. .