Women Scientists
Women scientist highlight presentation by Elvis Umaña and Hrishikesh Tupkar.
File: Women-Scientists.pdfWomen Scientist Highlights
Susan Picotte
“I am a dreamer who dreams, sees visions, and listens always to the still, small voice. I am a trail-blazer.” – Susan Picotte
Susan Picotte was a Native American medical doctor and reformer. As a child, she unfortunately watched a sick Native American woman pass away because a local white doctor refused to give her care. Picotte has stated that this event was the inspiration for her becoming a physician to gain the ability to treat people on the Omaha reservation. She was the first person to receive federal aid for professional education and the first Native American in the U.S. to receive a medical degree (WMCP in 1889). Picotte returned to the reservation soon after to work as a physician at the government boarding school, caring for over 1200 patients. In addition to providing medical treatment, Picotte also actively participated in public reform supporting temperance and public health issues. Serving as the chair of the state health committee of the Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs, she strived to improve education about issues such as hygiene. Due to the widespread nature of tuberculosis during this time, she advocated further for cleanliness and the eradication of houseflies. For her service, the reservation hospital was named after her and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. In 2021, a bronze sculpture of Picotte was unveiled on Lincoln’s Centennial Mall on Nebraska’s first Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Rebeca Gerschman
The first person to discover the effects of oxygen free radicals on cell death and aging.
Rebeca Gerschman was an Argentinian biologist and physiologist who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Buenos Aires. After receiving her doctorate, she began research on oxygen poisoning and soon became the first person to link the presence of oxygen free radicals to cell death and aging (1953). Unfortunately, this theory was not widely accepted by the scientific community until 1969, when another group’s work on superoxide dismutase enzymes confirmed her theory. In addition to scientific achievements, Gerschman was also a significant advocate for women’s rights in the scientific field. In her honor, the Rebeca Gerschman Award was set up for women researchers in Argentina who have made significant contributions towards advancing science and training human resources.
Lori Alvord
The first Diné (Navajo) to become board certified in surgery.
Lori Alvord is a Native American surgeon and author. Alvord earned a double major in psychology and sociology from Dartmouth in 1979. Attaining her M.D. from Stanford University Medical School in 1985, she became the first Diné (Navajo) woman to become board certified in surgery. Dedicated to giving back to her community, she returned to the Navajo reservation in NM to treat patients at the Indian Health Service. Here, while being technically proficient in surgery, her goal was treating patients psychologically and spiritually in addition to physical treatment. She accounted for patient surroundings when treating people and this approach culminated in her book, The Scalpel and the Silver Bear. Dedicated to making a broader impact, she served as student affairs faculty at Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Central Michigan University, and the University of Arizona and on various advisory councils. For her contributions to public health, she has received three honorary medical degrees and the American Medical Writers Association Award of Excellence. In 2013, she was also endorsed as Surgeon General of the US by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians.
Lauren Esposito
“Visibility is important for mental health, for standing up to injustices, and for mentoring current colleagues and future scientists.” – Lauren Esposito
Dr. Lauren Esposito is an entomologist from El Paso, Texas and one of the world’s only women scorpion experts. Her passion for studying insects and birds began from a young age, including a first-grade science project studying the Mendelian genetics of pigeon colors. With a growing interest in studying arachnids during undergrad, she earned a PhD in arachnology from the City University of NY (2011). After her graduate studies, Esposito studied scorpion genetic information and studied the use of scorpion venom in cancer research and medication. Currently at UC-Berkeley, her research revolves around the evolution of scorpion venom and distribution of scorpions in the Caribbean. Wanting to make an impact through outreach apart from research, she created the organization 500 Queer Scientists as a network of LGBTQ+ scientists worldwide. Being openly queer herself, Esposito was inspired to create the organizations after learning that over 40% of LGBTQ+ scientists in the US were not ‘out’ to their colleagues. For her work in outreach, she received the Walt Westman Award by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP), the highest honor that the NOGLSTP awards to a member.
Isabella A. Abbott
“I call the endemic plants the first Hawaiians. Gingers and heliconias will grow elsewhere. The endemic plants will not. This is their home. It’s like the Hawaiian people – they belong here.” – Isabella Abbott
Dr. Isabella Abbott was an ethnobotanist from Hawaii. After receiving her undergraduate degree in botany from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and her master’s degree in botany from the University of Michigan before becoming the first native Hawaiian woman to receive a PhD in science. As a leading expect on Pacific marine algae, she authored over 150 publications and was credited with the discovery of over 200 species of algae. For all her research work, she was awarded the Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences and in 2008, received a lifetime achievement award from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources for coral reef studies. After her passing in 2010, the University of Hawaii established a scholarship to support research in Hawaiian ethnobotany and marine botany.
Helen Trías
“We need health, but above all we need to create a grounding for healthy public policy that redresses and salvages the growing inequities. We cannot achieve a healthier us without achieving a healthier, more equitable health care system, and ultimately, a more equitable society.” – Helen Trías
Helen Trías (1929-2001) was an American pediatrician, educator, and women’s rights activist. Although she was born in New York, her family moved to Puerto Rico shortly after her birth and moved back to NY when she was 10 years old. Unfortunately, she experienced discrimination in America within the society and education system, gaining limited access to opportunities simply because of her background. Choosing to pursue a medical career path because she loved working with science and people, she earned her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan (1960). Further, she was a strong advocate for women’s rights throughout her career. Trías founded multiple committees focused on abortion rights and drafting guidelines to end non-consented sterilizations targeting minority women. For her work, she was awarded the Presidential Citizen’s Medal for her work on behalf of women, children, low-income families, and people with HIV/AIDS (2001). In 2019, New York City commissioned a statue to be built to honor all her contributions creating equitable health care systems.
Frances H. Arnold
“Most innovations are not obvious to other people at the time. You have to believe in yourself. If you’ve got a good idea, follow it even when others say it’s not.” – Frances H. Arnold
Dr. Frances H. Arnold is an American chemical engineer who earned a BS in mechanical and aerospace engineering and a PhD in chemical engineering. She pioneered the use of directed evolution by introducing mutations in enzymes to improve certain protein functions. For this work, she became the fifth woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. Additionally, she has also co-invented over 40 U.S. patents and co-founded Gevo, Inc., a company that produces chemicals and fuels from renewable resources. Arnold was also the first woman to be accepted into all three of the United States National Academies: the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences. Currently, she serves as an external co-chair of PCAST.
Fe Del Mundo
“I feel that if you give the world the best that you can, the best will always come back to you.” – Fe Del Mundo
Dr. Fe Del Mundo (1911-2011) was a Filipina pediatrician. Del Mundo’s passion for pursuing a medical career originated from her childhood, as ignorance around pediatric health led to most of her siblings passing away as children. Motivated by grief, del Mundo studied medicine and earned her medical degree as the valedictorian at the University of Philippines (1933). Former President Manuel Quezon offered to pay for her further medical training anywhere in the United States. In the U.S., she earned an M.S. in bacteriology (1940) and completed a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital (1939 – 1941). Immediately after her fellowship, she returned to the Philippines motivated to work towards improving pediatric health care. Unfortunately, Japanese occupation of the country delayed her plans to start her practice, as she instead cared to children at an internment camp at the University of Santo Tomas. Caring for over 400 children and earning the moniker “The Angel of Santo Tomas”, the Mayor of Manila invited her to run a children’s hospital in the city. After her term as the hospital’s director from 1943 to 1948, she became the director of the Department of Pediatrics at Far Eastern University. During this time, del Mundo studied cures for conditions such as dengue fever and jaundice and improved accessibility to health care for impoverished families. Later in 1957, she opened her own hospital in Quezon City, which has continued to grow and thrive until today. For her contributions towards the medical field, she was the first Filipino woman to be declared a National Scientist of the Philippines. Dr. del Mundo was also an honorary member of the American Pediatric Society and a consultant for the World Health Organization.
Rosalind Franklin
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” – Rosalind Franklin
Born in London on July 25, 1920, Franklin was born to a prominent family and strongly pursued academics. Franklin expertized in chemistry and crystallography, yet faced prejudice from both collogues and family. Still, she attained her B.S. in chemistry and her Ph.D. as a fellow at University of Cambridge. Criticism and opposition from her mentor, however, drove her away from the university. Instead, Franklin fulfilled her thesis work at BCURA. At Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de l’État, she familiarized herself with x-ray crystallography and discovered the structure of coal. She applied this to study DNA at King’s College with Wilkins, who would eventually give her data to Watson and Crick without her knowledge. She continued to study RNA and the polio virus until her death in 1958 from ovarian cancer.