“Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it. In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t.” – Gertrude B. Elion
Gertrude B. Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Hunter College (1937). Unable to find a paid research position due to gender bias, she worked as a secretary and high school teacher to fund her master’s studies at New York University. In 1944, she began working with scientist George H. Hitchings at the Burroughs-Wellcome pharmaceutical company. As opposed to relying on trial-and-error, Elion and Hitchings discovered new drugs using rational drug design. Studying the difference in biochemistry and metabolism between human cells and pathogens, they developed drugs to treat a variety of conditions, some of which include leukemia, malaria, and hepatitis. For this work, Elion received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Hitchings and Sir James Black (1988). Among numerous honors, Elion also received the National Medal of Science and in the same year, became the first woman to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (1991).