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Gertrude B. Elion

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Gertrude B. Elion
Born
Gertrude Belle Elion

(1918-01-23)January 23, 1918
New York City, United States
DiedFebruary 21, 1999(1999-02-21) (aged 81)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materHunter College
AwardsGarvan-Olin Medal (1968),
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1988)
National Medal of Science (1991)
Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
National Inventors Hall of Fame (1991) (first woman to be inducted)
Scientific career
InstitutionsBurroughs Wellcome

Gertrude Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 – February 21, 1999)[1] was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, and a 1988 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Working alone as well as with George H. Hitchings, Elion developed a multitude of new drugs, using innovative research methods that would later lead to the development of the AIDS drug AZT.[2]

Biography

Elion was born in New York City, to immigrant parents Bertha (Cohen) and Robert Elion, a dentist. When she was 15, her grandfather died of cancer, instilling in her a desire to do all she could to try and cure the disease.[3] She graduated from Hunter College in 1937 with a degree in Chemistry[4] and New York University (M.Sc.) in 1941. Unable to obtain a graduate research position, she worked as a lab assistant and a high school teacher. Later, she left to work as an assistant to George H. Hitchings at the Burroughs-Wellcome pharmaceutical company (now GlaxoSmithKline). After several years of long range commuting, she was informed that she would no longer be able to continue her doctorate on a part-time basis, but would need to give up her job and go to school full-time. Elion made what was then a critical decision in her life, to stay with her job and give up the pursuit of a doctorate.[4] She never obtained a formal Ph.D., but was later awarded an honorary Ph.D from Polytechnic University of New York in 1989 and honorary SD degree from Harvard university in 1998. She attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now known as Polytechnic University of New York) but did not graduate. Gertrude Elion died in North Carolina in 1999, aged 81. She had moved to the Research Triangle in 1970, and for a time served as a research professor at Duke University. She had also worked for the National Cancer Institute, American Association for Cancer Research and World Health Organization, among other organizations. From 1967 to 1983, she was the Head of the Department of Experimental Therapy for Burroughs Wellcome. Elion never married, had no children, and listed her hobby as 'listening to music'.[5]

Work

Rather than relying on trial-and-error, Elion and Hitchings used the differences in biochemistry between normal human cells and pathogens (disease-causing agents) to design drugs that could kill or inhibit the reproduction of particular pathogens without harming the host cells. Most of Elion's early work came from the use and development of purines. Elion's inventions include:

Awards and Honors

In 1988 Elion received the Nobel Prize in Medicine, together with Hitchings and Sir James Black. Other awards include the National Medal of Science (1991),[7] Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), and the Garvan-Olin Medal (1968). In 1991 she became the first woman to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.[8]

In Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation, there is a chapter devoted to her.

Quotes

  • "I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of cancer. I decided nobody should suffer that much."
  • "The idea was to do research, find new avenues to conquer, new mountains to climb."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1098/rsbm.2007.0051, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2007.0051 instead.
  2. ^ Holloway, M. (1991) Profile: Gertrude Belle Elion – The Satisfaction of Delayed Gratification, Scientific American 265(4), 40-44.
  3. ^ http://jwa.org/media/bertha-and-gertrude-elion
  4. ^ a b Elion, Gertrude. "Les Prix Nobel". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  5. ^ Staff (1988). "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988: Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  6. ^ Marx, Vivien (2005). "6-Mercaptopurine". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  7. ^ Staff. "The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details: GERTRUDE B. ELION". National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  8. ^ Staff. "Invent Now: Hall of Fame: Gertrude Belle Elion". National Inventors Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  9. ^ Staff (6 March 1991). "Gertrude B. Elion: Interview (page: 5/7)". Academy of Achievement. Retrieved 2012-10-20.

Further reading

Chast, François (1970–1980). "Elion, Gertrude Belle". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 20. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 373–377. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.

External links

Template:Persondata

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