Effects of UV Rays on Human Skin

A collaboration with Columbia University enabled Betsy to study DNA damage and repair in the skin of healthy human volunteers. In 1980, Irene E. Kochevar was an assistant professor in the Department of Dermatology. The department’s chair at the time, Leonard C. Harber,  “was a famous skin photobiologist in dermatology,” says Kochevar, now a professor at Harvard Medical School. “Betsy somehow communicated with Dr. Harber her interest in studying UV radiation-induced damage in human skin and its repair.” 

With Betsy, Kochevar and Harber did the first study of UV-induced DNA damage in human skin that did not involve radioactivity. The study involved exposing small areas of volunteers’ buttocks to UV light similar to that coming from the sun. Then, little pieces of skin were taken and quickly frozen, and Betsy took the tissues to Brookhaven for analysis. 

The collaboration continued even after Kochevar moved to Harvard Medical School in 1981.

Date label
1980s
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Gel electrophoresis was a major tool in Betsy’s lab
Gel electrophoresis was a major tool in Betsy’s lab.
Courtesy John Sutherland.

A collaboration with Columbia University enabled Betsy to study DNA damage and repair in the skin of healthy human volunteers.

 

In 1980, Irene E. Kochevar was an assistant professor in the Department of Dermatology. The department’s chair at the time, Leonard C. Harber, “was a famous skin photobiologist in dermatology,” says Kochevar, now a professor at Harvard Medical School. “Betsy somehow communicated with Dr. Harber her interest in studying UV radiation-induced damage in human skin and its repair.”

With Betsy, Kochevar and Harber did the first study of UV-induced DNA damage in human skin that did not involve radioactivity.

 

In the photobiology community, Betsy was a leading researcher in UV radiation-induced damage in DNA.
Irene Kochevar

The study involved exposing small areas of volunteers’ buttocks to UV light similar to that coming from the sun. Then, little pieces of skin were taken and quickly frozen, and Betsy took the tissues to Brookhaven for analysis.

The collaboration continued even after Kochevar moved to Harvard Medical School in 1981.

 

I got to know Betsy’s interaction with her lab group. I found her to be very fair and inclusive. She was organized, very friendly, and welcoming. She had a good interest in teaching young people. I considered her a model scientist in many ways.
Irene Kochevar

PUBLICATIONS

Sutherland BM, Harber LC, Kochevar IE. 1980. Pyrimidine Dimer Formation and Repair in Human Skin. Cancer Res. 40:3181-3185.
Sutherland JC, Monteleone DC, Trunk T, Ciarrocchi G. 1984. Two Dimensional, Computer-Controlled Film Scanner: Quantitation of Fluorescence from Ethidium Bromide-Stained DNA Gels. Analyt. Biochem. 139:390-399.
Gange RW, Blackett AD, Matzinger EA, Sutherland, BM, Kochevar IE. 1985. Comparative Protective Efficiency of UVA- and UVB‑Induced Tans Protective Against Erythema and Formation of Endonuclease‑Sensitive Sites in DNA by UVB in Human Skin. J. Invest. Dermatol. 85:362‑364.
Freeman SE, Hacham H, Gange RW, Maytum D, Sutherland JC, Sutherland BM. 1989.  Wavelength Dependence of Pyrimidine Dimer Formation in DNA of Human Skin Irradiated in situ with Ultraviolet Light. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:5605-5609.
Kochevar IE, Walsh, AA, Green, HA, Sherwood M, Shih AG, Sutherland BM. 1991. DNA Damage Induced by 193-nm Radiation in Mammalian Cells. Cancer Res. 51:288-293.
Betsy loved to do her own experiments and kept a personal lab bench for a long time
Betsy loved to do her own experiments and kept a personal lab bench for a long time.
Courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory.