Emerita Professor Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
1928 - 2015
Adopted by the IU Indianapolis Faculty Council at their meeting on May 5, 2015.
Marilyn was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on October 19, 1928, to Mildred and Ivan Snyder. She was raised in Indianapolis and attended Shortridge High School then Purdue University for a BS. She trained in Medical Technology at Indiana University. She married James Bartlett in 1951 and had five children. After the youngest began school in 1970, she began to work in the Microbiology Laboratories at IU Hospital. She also began studying for a Master’s Degree under Dr. Clyde Culbertson receiving an MS in 1974. In the hospital microbiology laboratory there was a need for better Parasitology, and she did an outstanding job of developing that area. She subsequently did the same for the field of Mycology, the study of fungi. In the late 1970’s an outbreak of Pneumocystis pneumonia occurred in children at Riley Hospital who were being treated for Acute Lymphatic Leukemia with an aggressive new leukemia therapy that severely depressed the child’s immune system. In the early 1980s at IU hospitals and around the country, Pneumocystis pneumonia began to appear in gay men, a manifestation of the immune suppression in HIV/AIDS. Because Pneumocystis pneumonia was so devastating for these patients, Marilyn performed pioneer work to develop animal models of Pneumocystis in rats and mice and to develop a culture system to allow study of this difficult organism. The need for alternate therapies for Pneumocystis was urgent and as one of the few research groups working with that organism, Marilyn along with Dr. James W. Smith applied for and received NIH funding. Adding Dr. Sherry Queener in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, the Indiana Pneumocystis group discovered that the combination of Clindamycin plus Primaquine was effective in animal models and subsequently in humans. Today, this combination is a recognized alternate therapy for Pneumocystis pneumonia. She held two patents for anti-Pneumocystis drugs.
Marilyn Bartlett was a gifted microscopist who worked in diagnosing pulmonary infections in immunocompromised patients. These complicated infections were often caused by fungi and occasionally by parasites, viruses, or bacteria. The diagnostic protocol developed with Marilyn saved many lives by assuring proper diagnosis and therapy.
After retiring from IU in 1998, Marilyn became a Fulbright Research Scholar at Moi University School of Medicine and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, where she trained technologists to identify parasites and fungi, including those seen in HIV/AIDS patients. She subsequently served on a Fulbright Sub-Saharan Study Section 2000-2003. Marilyn wrote over 130 referred scientific publications, and presented numerous talks and workshops at regional, national, and international meetings. She also served on some NIH grant review bodies as a recognized leader in mycology and parasitology.
Some of her professional activities include National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards; Member National Institutes of Health-Planning Panels; "Outstanding Contribution to Clinical Microbiology Award"; Foundation Lecturer American Society for Microbiology; President, South Central Association for Clinical Microbiology;
Medical Mycological Society of Americas, International Society for Human and Animal Mycoses, American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Immune Compromised Host Society, and Sigma Xi. She is listed in Who’s Who in American Women and Who’s Who Women of Science.
Marilyn's community interests and contributions were extensive and involved the Indianapolis Museum of Art, St. Margaret's Hospital Guild, Eiteljorg Museum, the Children's Museum, IU Indianapolis University Library, Indianapolis Sailing Club, Antiquarian Society, and Maxinkuckee Yacht Club in Culver. She was a Sagamore of the Wabash. Marilyn is survived by husband of sixty four years, James D. Bartlett Sr.; her five children, James D. Bartlett Jr. (Michele), Elizabeth B. Foland, Thomas M. Bartlett (Rosie), Matthew Clark Bartlett (Cindy), and Amy L. Cooper (Rick); nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
THUS, BE IT RESOLVED: that this memorial resolution be placed in the minutes of the IU Indianapolis Faculty Council with a moment of silence observed in her honor.
Prepared by James W. Smith, Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, IU School of Medicine