Lynette Ann Denny, MD, PhD, an AACR member, former head of department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, and a leading researcher in the prevention of cervical cancer in low-resource settings, died June 9, 2024. She was 66.
A native of South Africa, Denny received a medical degree from UCT in 1983, a master’s degree in medicine in 1994, and a doctorate in obstetrics and gynecology in 2000. She was a specialist in gynecologic oncology at Groote Schuur Hospital, the teaching affiliate of UCT.
After stepping down as head of the ob/gyn department, she served as director of special projects. She was also director of the South African Medical Research Council’s gynecological cancer research center.
She studied alternatives to Pap testing for cervical cancer to improve the very low rate of cytology screening in South Africa. This work included a trial of screening with human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing followed by ablative treatment of lesions with cryotherapy in the same visit, which she called “screen and treat.”
She was president of International Gynecologic Cancer Society in 2012-2014, chair of the gynecologic oncology committee of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), and secretary-treasurer of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) from 2004 to 2017.
She was awarded South Africa’s national civilian honor, the Order of the Baobab (Silver), by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November 2021, and in 2022 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She received the South African Medical Association Award for Extraordinary Service to Medicine in 2012 and the Medal of Honor of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015. She was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in London in 2012.
She had been a member of AACR since 2022 and was a member of the AACR Women in Cancer Research (WICR) and AACR Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR).
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