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Gertrude Elion Facts & Worksheets

Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection.

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Gertrude “Trudy” Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. She won a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1988 with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative approaches of rational drug design for the development of new drugs.

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Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

  • Elion was born on January 23, 1918.
  • She was born in one of the great cities in America, New York City.
  • Her father, Robert Elion, was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant and a dentist. Her mother, Bertha Cohen, was a Polish immigrant.
  • Elion’s family lost their wealth after the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
  • Elion was an excellent student and graduated from Walton High School at the age of 15.
  • When she was 15, her grandfather died of stomach cancer.
  • Being with her grandfather in his last moments, the multi-talented Gertrude was inspired to pursue a career in science and medicine in college.
  • At age 15, Elion entered Hunter College in New York City,.
  • She was a Phi Beta Kappa and was able to attend for free due to her grades.
  • At age 19, in 1937, Elion graduated as summa cum laude in chemistry.
  • She was unable to find employment after graduation because many laboratories refused to hire women chemists.
  • She got a job as a lab assistant at the New York Hospital School of Nursing in 1937.
  • She then worked as an assistant organic chemist at the Denver Chemical Manufacturing Company in 1938–39, as a chemistry and physics teacher in New York City high schools in 1940–42, and as a research chemist at Johnson & Johnson in 1943–44.
  • During this time she also took classes at New York University (MS., 1941).
  • She eventually saved up enough money to attend New York University and earned her MSc. in 1941.
  • Due to her unavailability to devote herself for full-time studies, Elion never received a PhD.

CAREER AS A CHEMIST

  • The spring of World War II gave more opportunities for chemists in industrial laboratories.
  • Elion was able to obtain an analytical quality control job at a major food company, but became restless because the work was so repetitive and she was no longer learning anything.
  • She applied and got a research job in a laboratory at Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey.
  • When that laboratory was disbanded after about six months, she was offered a number of positions in research laboratories but the one which intrigued her most was a position as assistant to George Hitchings.
  • She was hired at Burroughs-Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) in 1944, where she started a 40-year partnership with Dr. George H. Hitchings.
  • Her thirst for knowledge impressed Dr. Hitchings, and he permitted her to take on more responsibility.
  • They both set out on an unorthodox course of producing medicines by studying the chemical composition of diseased cells.
  • Rather than relying on trial-and-error methods, Elion and Hitchings used the differences in biochemistry between normal human cells and pathogens (disease-causing agents) to design drugs that would block viral infections.
  • The drugs they developed are used to treat a variety of maladies to combat leukemia, herpes, and AIDS.
  • They also discovered medications to reduce the rejection of the body of foreign tissue in kidney transplants between unrelated donors.
  • Overall, Elion developed 45 patents in medicine. She was also awarded 23 honorary degrees.

PRIVATE LIFE

  • Elion declared that her work was her life.
  • However, she also enjoyed photography and travel, both products of her curiosity about life.
  • She additionally enjoyed opera, ballet, and theater.
  • Even though she never married, she enjoyed being the “favorite aunt” to her brother’s children.

A WELL-LIVED LIFE

  • Gertrude B. Elion formally retired in 1983, but remained active, holding the titles of scientist emeritus and consultant at her old company.
  • She also worked as an adviser for the World Health Organization and the American Association for Cancer Research.
  • Elion received the Nobel Prize in Medicine, together with George Hitchings and Sir James Black in 1988.
  • She earned other awards for her work, including the National Medal of Science, and became the first woman to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991.
  • She was granted the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Gertrude Elion Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Gertrude Elion across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Gertrude Elion worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Gertrude “Trudy” Belle Elion who was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. She won a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1988 with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative approaches of rational drug design for the development of new drugs.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Gertrude Elion Facts
  • Biographical Profile
  • History Timeline
  • Letter Clues
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Biochemistry v. Pharmacology
  • Inspiration
  • Gender Discrimination
  • Employment History
  • Nobel Prize Awardees
  • “She Was”

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