Institution:
SUNY Downstate Medical CenterResearchers:
Alexander Johnston Chalmers Skene, Professor of Diseases of Women and Clinical Obstetrics (1870 – 1899), Dean of Faculty (1886 -1893); President of Long Island College Hospital (Downstate’s predecessor institution) (1893-1899). A founder of the American Gynecological Society (1886-1887).
Impact:
Skene was the first to describe “Skene’s glands” (also known as the lesser vestibular glands, periurethral glands, or para-urethral glands) which are located on the anterior wall of the vagina, around the lower end of the urethra. They drain into the urethra and near the urethral opening and may be near or a part of the G-spot. These glands are surrounded with tissue (which includes the part of the clitoris) that reaches up inside the vagina and swells with blood during sexual arousal. If infected, the glands can become inflamed, a condition referred to as “skenitis.” Skene wrote more than 200 scholarly articles on surgical, gynecological and obstetrical subjects and five textbooks. A bust dedicated to his memory stands in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza.
Timeline:
1870’s-1890s