Christoph Lengauer is Global Head of Oncology Drug Discovery at sanofiaventis, one of the
biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Many of the scientists working for him use
HeLa cells on a routine basis. He lives in Paris, France.
Davon Meade and (Little) Alfred Jr., Deborah’s grandsons, live in Baltimore, as do twenty-
two of Henrietta’s other descendants, including her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and
great-great-grandchildren. Two others live in California.
John Moore appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear his case. He died in
2001.
Roland Pattillo is a professor at Morehouse School of Medicine, where he continues to hold
his HeLa conference in Henrietta’s honor each year. Pattillo and his wife, Pat, plan to buy a
marker for Henrietta’s grave, to be placed near her mother’s tombstone in the Lacks family
cemetery.
James Pullum, Deborah’s ex-husband, is still preaching in Baltimore.
Courtney Speed still runs her grocery store, where she continues to teach local children to
do math, and hopes to open a Henrietta Lacks Museum.
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
Afterword
W
hen I tell people the story of Henrietta Lacks and her cells, their first question is usually
Wasn’t it illegal for doctors to take Henrietta’s cells without her knowledge? Don’t doctors
have to tell you when they use your cells in research? The answer is no—not in 1951, and not