Gertrude Elion; Nobel-Winning Scientist
Gertrude Belle Elion, Nobel laureate who helped create drugs to combat such diseases as leukemia and herpes, has died at the age of 81.
Elion, who held 45 patents, died Sunday at the University of North Carolina Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C.
She shared the Nobel Prize in 1988 with her colleague of about 40 years, George Hitchings, and British researcher James W. Black of King’s College in London.
The three scientists were among the first to design drugs on the basis of a biochemical understanding of the underlying disease process. Black developed beta-blockers to treat heart disease and Tagamet to combat ulcers.
In addition to the first useful drugs against leukemia, Elion and Hitchings developed acyclovir, the first drug effective against a virus, which is used to combat herpes; azathioprine, the first drug useful for preventing rejection of transplanted organs; allopurinol, a treatment for gout; and pyrimethamine, which is used against malaria. They also laid the groundwork for the research that produced AZT, which is used to treat AIDS.
“Rarely has scientific experimentation been so intimately linked to the reduction of human suffering,” the 1988 Nobel Prize Annual said of Elion and Hitchings’ work.
Elion was a standout among Nobel winners in several ways. The only woman recipient in 1988, she was easy to spot in royal blue chiffon at presentation ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden. And unlike most Nobelists who came from nonprofit research institutions, she and Hitchings worked for a pharmaceutical company--Burroughs Wellcome Co., now Glaxo Wellcome of Research Triangle Park, N.C.
“There’s nothing that gives you a lift like seeing somebody get better from a serious disease,” Elion, known for her compassion and modesty, told The Times when the prize was announced Oct. 17, 1988. “The Nobel is something that is going to disappear in a few days. The other [seeing patients recover] is permanent.”
A New York City native and daughter of Russian and Lithuanian immigrants, Elion earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and a master’s degree in chemistry from New York University. With the doors of science largely closed to women in 1941, she took jobs teaching high school chemistry and physics, instructing nurses in laboratory procedures and testing pickles for a food company.
When World War II put many men in uniform, Elion at last had the opportunity to realize her career goal--research--when Hitchings hired her as his assistant at Burroughs Wellcome.
In 1967, Elion was named head of the department of experimental therapy at the drug company. Despite her official retirement in 1983, she worked until her death and also taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
Although she never completed her doctoral work, Elion held 25 honorary doctorates. Her honors also included the National Medal of Science and Medal of Honor from the American Cancer Society.
Memorial donations may be made to the Leukemia Society of America, 600 3rd Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.
