Gertrude B. Elion

Gertrude B. Elion never married nor had children. She remained close to her brother and his family till the very end. Despite her hectic career, she still found time for hobbies like photography and travelling.

She died on February 21, 1999, at the age of 81.

Gertrude Belle Elion was born on January 23, 1918, in New York City, United States, to Bertha (Cohen) and Robert Elion. Her father was a dentist and she had one brother.

A bright and curious girl, she had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and loved all the subjects in school. When she was 15, her beloved grandfather died of cancer. Watching him die from the dreadful disease motivated her to do something that might eventually lead to a cure for the disease.

In the early 1930s, the western world was still reeling under the aftereffects of the Great Depression and since her family was not financially sound, she wondered if she would be able to pursue a higher education. She was fortunately able to secure a place in the Hunter College, which was a free one.

She graduated in 1937 with a degree in Chemistry. She worked as a laboratory assistant for a chemist for some time before entering graduate school at New York University in the fall of 1939. She was the only lady in her class.

While working towards her master’s degree she also worked as a teacher of chemistry, physics and general science. She obtained her Master of Science degree in chemistry in 1941.

The World War II was going on when she graduated. She wanted to get into research but was not able to obtain the position she desired. Instead, she did analytical quality control work for a major food company. She did not find any satisfaction in this job and began searching for a new one.

She was appointed at the Burroughs Wellcome Laboratories as an assistant to George Hitchings. She enjoyed her time at the laboratory as Hitchings gave her considerable freedom in her research, allowing her to learn as rapidly as she wanted to.

Working with Hitchings, she moved from being solely an organic chemist to become involved in microbiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and immunology. During this time, she also attended night school at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute with the intent of pursuing a doctorate. However, she dropped her Ph.D. plans due to increasing work pressure.

Her professional career proved to be a highly successful one. In collaboration with Hitchings, she developed various new drugs to treat diseases like leukemia, autoimmune disorders, urinary-tract infections, gout, malaria, and viral herpes.

The duo adopted innovative research methods and focused on examining the difference between the biochemistry of normal human cells and those of cancer cells, bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Then they used this information to formulate effective drugs to treat the diseases caused by such pathogens.

Elion developed a multitude of new drugs in her career which includes 6-mercaptopurine (Purinethol), the first treatment for leukemia and used in organ transplantation. Some of the other drugs she invented were Azathioprine (Imuran), the first immuno-suppressive agent, and Nelarabine, which is used for cancer treatment.