Gertrude B. Elion M.S.[Chemisty]

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988
National Medal of Science – Chemistry 1991

Chemist, Pharmacologist. Discovered principles for drug treatment; developed drugs – anticancer, immunosuppressive, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-gout, anti-malarial. Purines.

“I was a child with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. My beloved grandfather died of cancer when I was 15. I was highly motivated to discover a cure for this terrible disease”.

Images

Gertrude Elion. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Ganga comment: Meticulous maintenance of lab records is essential for making scientific discoveries.

Gertrude Elion and Co-Nobelist George Hitchings, 1948. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Gertrude Elion. Source: National Cancer Institute/Wikimedia Commons.

Co-Nobelist George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion, 1988. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Co-Nobelist George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion, 1988. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Gertrude Elion. Oil painting by Sir Roy Calne, 1990. Source: Wellcome Images-Wellcome Trust/Wikimedia Commons.

Gertrude Elion, 1991. Source: Wikimedia Commons.