# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Nobel Prize | Women who changed science | Gertrude Elion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With the drugs that she created, Gertrude Elion fulfilled her life's mission: to alleviate human suffering. Beyond the individual drugs she discovered, she pioneered a new, more scientific approach to drug development that forever altered - and accelerated - medical research.

# data[].attributes.body
Gertrude B. Elion was born on January 23, 1918, in New York. She grew up with her parents and brother, who were Eastern European Jewish immigrants. When Gertrude was three years old, her grandfather came from Russia to live with the family, and they became very close. Unfortunately, when Gertrude was 15, her grandfather passed away from stomach cancer. This experience, along with her mother's encouragement to pursue higher education, helped shape Gertrude's future career path.

# data[].attributes.body
In 1929, Gertrude B. Elion's family went bankrupt due to the Great Depression. Fortunately, her high grades helped her secure admission to Hunter College in New York, which was free. After completing her studies, she faced financial difficulties and struggled to secure a fellowship because she was a woman. Nevertheless, she persisted in pursuing her passion for chemistry and refused to let gender bias hold her back. Despite working various jobs including as a secretary, teacher, and unpaid lab worker, she continued to attend classes at NYU to expand her knowledge. Unfortunately, she was unable to commit to full-time studies and therefore never obtained a Ph.D. However, her career path changed during World War II when a shortage of male chemists allowed Gertrude to prove herself and excel in her field.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Gertrude B. Elion, in full Gertrude Belle Elion, (born Jan. 23, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.-died Feb. 21, 1999, Chapel Hill, N.C.), American pharmacologist who, along with George H. Hitchings and Sir James W. Black, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for their development of drugs used to treat several major diseases.

Elion was the daughter of immigrants. She graduated from Hunter College in New York City with a degree in biochemistry in 1937. Unable to obtain a graduate research position because she was a woman, she found work as a lab assistant at the New York Hospital School of Nursing (1937), an assistant organic chemist at the Denver Chemical Manufacturing Company (1938-39), a chemistry and physics teacher in New York City high schools (1940-42), and a research chemist at Johnson & Johnson (1943-44). During this time she also took classes at New York University (M.S., 1941). Unable to devote herself to full-time studies, Elion never received a Ph.D.

In 1944 Elion joined the Burroughs Wellcome Laboratories (later part of Glaxo Wellcome; today known as GlaxoSmithKline). There she was first the assistant and then the colleague of Hitchings, with whom she worked for the next four decades. Elion and Hitchings developed an array of new drugs that were effective against leukemia, autoimmune disorders, urinary-tract infections, gout, malaria, and viral herpes. Their success was due primarily to their innovative research methods, which marked a radical departure from the trial-and-error approach taken by previous pharmacologists. Elion and Hitchings pointedly examined the difference between the biochemistry of normal human cells and those of cancer cells, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens (disease-causing agents). They then used this information to formulate drugs that could kill or inhibit the reproduction of a particular pathogen, leaving the human host's normal cells undamaged. The two researchers' new emphasis on understanding basic biochemical and physiological processes enabled them to eliminate much guesswork and wasted effort typical previously in developing new therapeutic drugs.

Elion, Gertrude B. National Cancer Institute

Though Elion officially retired in 1983, she helped oversee the development of azidothymidine (AZT), the first drug used in the treatment of AIDS. In 1991 she was awarded a National Medal of Science and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

Richard Pallardy, Research Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gertrude B. Elion, American pharmacologist who, along with George H. Hitchings and Sir James W. Black, received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for their development of drugs used to treat several major diseases. Elion was the daughter of immigrants. She graduated from Hunter

# data[].attributes.body
Gertrude adored grandfather with his daughters.

# data[].attributes.body
My name is Ana, I'm a philosophy major. The most interesting thing I learned recently is that David Fincher sent a copy of the final script of the Zodiac movie to the person the main character is based on, and after reading it he told David "So that's why my wife left me." An average day for me looks like working in the mornings and going to class in the afternoon, or the inverse depending on my class schedule. Something relatively interesting about me is that when I was around 8, I fully walked through a sliding glass door at my aunt's house. My favorite thing to do on a day off is play guitar or walk around with my dog.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Gertrude Elion receiving her Nobel Prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, 10 December 1988 Courtesy of GSK. Reproduced with permission

# data[].attributes.body
Though her individual discoveries were significant, when Elion received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 (with Hitchings and another drug researcher, James Black), it wasn’t for one particular drug, it was for a new, more rational approach to drug development. Simply put, Elion changed the way researchers develop drugs. As a result, although she died in 1999 at the age of 81, Gertrude Elion is still saving lives. Gertrude developed a systematic method for producing drugs based on knowledge of biochemistry and diseases. One of the first drugs produced by the pair was for leukemia and helped many children with the disease to survive.

# data[].attributes.body
Three year old Gertrude along side her mother.

# data[].attributes.headline
Lianet Alfonso - Coral Gables Highschool

# data[].attributes.subject
Lianet Alfonso - Coral Gables Highschool

# data[].attributes.body
Hello my name is Lianet Alfonso, I’m a sophomore in coral gables high school and one of my favorite things to do on a day off is to enjoy the weekend by going out somewhere and not staying inside.  By doing this it gives me a sense of relief to just walk and breathe in the natural air outside.  Something interesting I learned recently is that mantis shrimp  see way more colors than we do. Another thing that interests me is video gaming and I love to play rainbow six siege. Other than that I also love to paint. I’ve loved painting ever since I was a little kid. This is a picture of me with my bestie.

# data[].attributes.body
Gertrude B. Eliot accomplished many achievements during her life time. Elton worked hard to create drugs to combat leukemia, gout, malaria, herpes and autoimmune disorders. She devised a system to create drugs, leading into the creation of drug AZT and AIDS.

# data[].attributes.body
Gertrude working as an unpaid lab worker.

# data[].attributes.body
Gertrude working with two of her colleagues.