Howard Jones

Character Analysis

Jones is the gynecologist who first reviews Henrietta's medical history and examines her tumor, which he described as nothing like anything he'd ever seen before. He stood by that assessment even at the end of his lengthy career.

Jones is especially important in Henrietta's story as the doctor who definitively linked Henrietta's identity with HeLa cells, in response to a plea sent out by the scientific journal Nature back in 1973. He wrote a letter confirming her identity, leaving "no doubt that the HeLa cells were named after Henrietta Lacks." (176)