Breaking Through: Three Extraordinary Women Who Improved the Lives of Many
Image via the Library of Congress
A look at some incredible medical break-throughs led by women for Women’s History Month
Women have been behind some of the most important discoveries in medicine, yet many of them remain overlooked. Meet three who were willing to push past sexism and put their remarkable talents to work, making the world a better place in the process.
Maude Slye: The Nobel Nominee Who Challenged the Status Quo
In 1926, when pathologist Maude Slye first suggested that cancer could be inherited, it shocked the field of cancer research. At the time, few scientists considered cancer a genetic disease, leaving Slye to prove herself in a primarily male-dominated field. And prove herself, she did.
Born in Minnesota in 1879, Slye went to work as a stenographer after graduating from high school. She began her college studies ten years later at the University of Chicago. There she worked for the college president to support herself before ultimately transferring to Brown University, graduating in 1895. She then returned to University of Chicago to join a lab as a postgraduate researcher.
Believing that cancer might be caused by a recessive gene, Slye set to work trying to breed cancer out of mice. While she ultimately found that a single recessive gene could not explain the hereditary nature of cancer, she played a crucial role in discovering that some cancers could, in fact, be genetic. Slye’s results were astounding, but it would be several decades before cancer research shifted from virally-induced cancers to those induced genetically.
In 1923, Albert Soiland, a pioneer radiologist, nominated Slye for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Slye died in 1954, but her legacy lives on in the advancements made in cancer research.
Alice Evans: Revolutionizing the American Dairy Industry
When Alice Evans first became interested in microbiology, she had no idea that she’d one day become the first woman president of the Society of American Bacteriologists and revolutionize the way dairy products were processed in the U.S.
Evans thought she’d be a teacher after high school, so she enrolled in a two-year teaching course at Cornell University—but ended up completing a B.S. in bacteriology instead. She then earned her M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, also in bacteriology.
Recognizing Evans’ talent, peers encouraged her to get a doctorate. Instead, she went to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dairy division, where her groundbreaking research led to a better understanding of brucellosis—a bacterial infection she identified as the cause of remittent fevers in humans, and spontaneous abortions in animals. Other experts agreed and in 1920, a new genus—Brucella—was introduced based on her discovery. Ironically, Evans was infected with Brucella (later renamed brucella melitensis) two years into her work, impairing her health for over 20 years.
By the late 1920s, the dairy industry had begun to accept that brucellosis was dangerous for both farmers and the American food supply. Pasteurization of milk became more and more commonplace, which led to the decline of brucellosis.
In 1928, she was elected the first woman president of the Society of American Bacteriologists. Evans died in 1975, but her work has resulted in the development of standards that continue to keep our food industry safe.
Gerty Cori: First Woman to Win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Born to a Jewish family in Prague in 1896, Gerty Theresa Cori (née Radnitz), MD, found her calling in math and science. After graduating from a girls’ lyceum at 16, she set her sights on medical school. At the time, schools for girls didn’t offer most of the subjects required for the medical school entrance exam.
Undeterred, Dr. Cori spent 12 months studying all the Latin, science, and mathematics she had missed in her schooling. In 1914 she was admitted to Karl-Ferdinands-Universität—a highly unusual accomplishment for women at that time.
While in medical school, Dr. Cori met her husband, Carl Cori. With antisemitism on the rise in Europe at the time, Dr. Cori’s Jewish ancestry put the couple’s lives and careers at great risk. The young couple moved to the U.S. in 1922, later becoming citizens.
When Carl was hired to run a pathology lab in New York, he was able to get Dr. Cori a job. Together, they began researching the metabolism of tumors before turning their attention to carbohydrate metabolism, where Dr. Cori ultimately identified how the human body metabolizes glucose—a process later dubbed the Cori cycle. Dr. Cori’s discovery led to new treatments for diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
Although the Coris were equals in the lab and jointly published 50 papers, few institutions would hire Dr. Cori when the family left New York. When Carl became a professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in 1931, Dr. Cori was only offered a research associate position, despite all of her previous accomplishments.
Sixteen years later, the Coris won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with Dr. Cori being the first woman to do so. Two months later, she was finally promoted to full professorship.
Sources
Maude Slye
Alice Evans
Gerty Cori
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