The Lacks Legacy

William F. Connell School of Nursing Dean Katherine Gregory’s selection—The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown, 2010)—is a true story of the woman behind the HeLa cell line and countless modern-day scientific revelations.

Gregory assumed the Connell School deanship in July 2021. She was previously the associate chief nursing officer, women’s and newborn health, research, and innovation at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Gregory also was the scientific founder of a company that aims to improve preterm infant nutrition and growth outcomes through software designed to optimize nursing care and clinical workflows, resulting in a patent in 2020.

A poor, southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, Henrietta Lacks died of cancer on October 4, 1951. However her cells, known as HeLa cells, live on to this day. The genesis of HeLa cells and the discoveries made as a result of Lacks’s contribution to science is remarkable for many reasons, among them the lack of informed consent, as revealed by Skloot. 

“Henrietta Lacks’s story is especially important now because it serves as a reminder to all of us who work in science and health that some of the patients, families, and communities whom we serve do not trust us or the work we do—and for good reason,” Gregory says. “As a scientist and a nurse, I feel that it is our responsibility to build and maintain trust with all of the people whom we serve. New strategies and approaches aimed at developing partnerships are needed. In the era of a pandemic, this is more important to public health than ever before.”