Sheril Kirshenbaum on Nostr: Born in 1918, Gertrude Elion faced discrimination in #science, unable to get a job as ...

Born in 1918, Gertrude Elion faced discrimination in #science, unable to get a job as a woman. So she volunteered as a lab dishwasher, earning enough $ for grad work at NYU, where she was the only woman in chemistry classes.

Eventually Elion helped revolutionize medicine w George Hitchings. They figured out how to interfere with cell growth, leading to effective drugs for treating leukemia, gout, malaria, herpes & more, earning a 1988 Nobel Prize. https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/women-scientists/gertrude-elion.html #HistoryRemix #history