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Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, in 1903, and the first person to win it twice, in 1911. She developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes and discovered the two elements, polonium and radium. Curie also pioneered the use of radioactive isotopes to treat cancer and developed mobile radiography mobile unites to provide X-ray services in field hospitals during World War I. Throughout her life Curie experienced major challenges because of her sex. Denied a regular university education in Poland, her home country, because she was a woman, she had to study in France to get her degree. In 1903 the French Academy of Sciences tried to keep her name off its list of Nobel Prize nominees and the Swedish Academy of Sciences asked her not to attend the Nobel ceremony in 1911 because of negative publicity surrounding her personal life.1867-11-07T00:00:00+0000| 7 Nov 1867 | | Marie Curie, nee Sklodowska, born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (now Poland)Curie | Warsaw | |
Agramonte was a physician, pathologist and bacteriologist who discovered the role of the mosquito in the transmission of yellow fever in 1901. He made the discovery while working as a professor of bacteriology and experimental pathology at the University of Havana and assistant surgeon with the US Army. An influential leader of scientific medicine in Cuba, Agramonte originally trained in medicine at Columbia University. In addition to his research on yellow fever, Agramonte studied the transmission of plague, dengue, trachoma, malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and other infectious diseases.1868-06-03T00:00:00+0000| 3 Jun 1868 | | Aristides Agramonte y Simoni was born in Camaguey, CubaAgramonte | University of Havana | Bacteriology, Pathology, Infectious diseases |
Landsteiner was an immunologist and pathologist who has been called the founder of transfusion medicine. In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery of the main human blood types (A, B and O), published in 1901, and for his development of the ABO system of blood typing which enabled blood transfusion to become a safe medical procedure. In 1909 he also helped discover the microorganism responsible for poliovirus which provided the foundation for the development of the polio vaccine. He also discovered the Rh factor in 1940. This is an inherited protein found on the surface of red blood cells. This can cause problems in pregnancy for women with the Rh-negative blood group whose foetus has the Rh-positive blood group. 1868-06-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 Jun 1868 | | Karl Landsteiner was born in Vienna, AustriaLandsteiner | Rockefeller Institute | Immunology |
Wollstein was a pioneer paediatric pathologist at a time when women rarely worked in the field of pathology. One of her key contributions was the development of antiserum therapies to treat both paediatric and adult infectious diseases, including a potent polyvalent antiserum to treat meningitis. She was the first woman to ever be elected a member of the American Pediatric Society. In 1904 she joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research where she did important experimental work on polio, pneumonia and other diseases. Her work was important for showing that mumps could be viral in nature. 1868-11-21T00:00:00+0000| 21 Nov 1868 | | Martha Wollstein was born in New York City, USAWollstein | Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research | Antibodies, Infectious diseases |
Freidrich Miescher, Swiss physician and biologist, performing experiments on the chemical composition of white blood cells (leucocytes) isolates phosphate-rich chemicals from the nuclei of cells. Originally calling this substance nuclein, Miescher's discovery paved the way for the identification of what we today call nucleic acids and the understanding of DNA as the carrier of inheritance. 1869-01-01T00:00:00+0000| 1869 | | Discovery of DNAMiescher | University of Tubingen | DNA |
A Russian-American biochemist, Levene discovered nucleic acids came in two forms: DNA and RNA. He also idenified the components of DNA: adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, deoxyribose and a phosphate group and showed that these components were linked together by nucleotides, phosphate-sugar base units. Born to Jewish parents, Levene emigrated to the US in 1893 as a result of anti-semitic pogroms. He was appointed the head of the biochemical laboratory at the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research in 1905 where he spent the rest of his career.
1869-02-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Feb 1869 | | Phoebus Levene was born in Sagor, Russia (now Zagare, Lithuania)Levene | Rockefeller University | DNA |
Cushing was a neurosurgeon who was a major pioneer of brain surgery. He is best known for his work on the pituitary gland and for the first to describe Cushing disease, a condition caused by the body producing too much of a hormone called cortisol, often caused by a tumour or excess growth in the pituitary gland. This leads to swelling in the trunk and face. Cushing also identified several varieties of brain tumours and made great advances in their treatment. Many of the operating procedures and techniques now used in surgery of the brain also come from him.1869-04-08T00:00:00+0000| 8 Apr 1869 | | Harvey W Cushing was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USACushing | Johns Hopkins University | Surgery, Endocrinology, Neuroscience |
Spemann was an experimental embryologist. He won the 1935 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering embryonic induction, the process that directs parts of an embryo to develop groups of cells into particular tissues and organs. This was based on work he carried out on large eggs of amphibians in the 1920s, which revealed the existence of an area in the embryo that was responsible for producing different parts of the embryo. Parts of the head are produced by the anterior parts of the area, and parts of the tail by the posterior parts. In 1928 he performed the first successful somatic cell nuclear transfer in amphibian embryos. It marked the first move towards cloning. 1869-06-27T00:00:00+0000| 27 Jun 1869 | | Hans Spemann born in Stuttgart, Württemberg (now Germany)Spemann | University of Wurzburg | Embryology |
Mallon was the first person to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. Working as a cook in New York City, she was thought to have infected fifty-one people with the disease, and three deaths. Her case provided the first evidence that a person could be a carrier of typhoid without showing any outward signs of being sick. Refusing to abandon her work as a cook, Mallon was forced into quarantine by the public health authorities and by the time she died had spent three decades in isolation. Typhoid carriers can now be treated with antibiotics and the disease can be prevented through vaccination. 1869-09-23T00:00:00+0000| 23 Sep 1869 | | Mary Mallon, the patient known as Typhoid Mary, was born in Cookstown, Country Tyrone, IrelandMallon | | Infectious diseases |
McClung was a zoologist. He is best known for identifying the role of chromosomes in determining the sex of a species. This he did through a series of experiments with insects between 1901 and 1902. Based on his findings he hypothesised that the accessory chromosome (now known as chromosome X) could be the nuclear element that determined sex. It was the first time a scientist suggested that a given chromosome carried a set of hereditary traits. 1870-04-05T00:00:00+0000| 5 Apr 1870 | | Clarence E McClung was born in Clayton, California, USAMcClung | University of Pennsylvania | Genetics |
Bordet was a physician, immunologist and microbiologist who won the 1919 Nobel Prize for his discovery of two components in the blood - antibodies and complement proteins. The two components help destroy invading bacteria by rupturing the cell walls of the bacteria, a process known as bacteriolysis. Bordet made the discovery in 1895. Three years later Bordet observed that red blood cells from one animal species injected into another get destroyed by haemolysis - a process analogous to bacteriolysis. His finding led to the development of diagnostic tests that hunt for antibodies in the blood to detect infectious agents. The first one was for typhoid, developed in 1896.1870-06-13T00:00:00+0000| 13 Jun 1870 | | Jules Bordet was born in Soignies, BelgiumBordet | Pasteur Institute | Antibodies, Immunology, Diagnostics |
Schaudinn was a zoologist and microbiologist who helped to discover the bacterial cause of syphilis, in 1905. He also identified the unicellular parasite Entamoeba histolytica, the amoeba that causes dysentery and confirmed hook worm infections are contracted through skin on the feet. This he established through experiments with monkeys. Schuadinn also made important discoveries relating to sleeping sickness and malaria. He died at the age of 34 after a surgical operation to remove a gastrointestinal abscess, probably caused by an amoebian infection he voluntarily acquired while researching amoebas.1871-09-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Sep 1871 | | Fritz R Schaudinn was bornSchaudinn | Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin | Bacteriology, Infectious diseases |
Cannon was a neurologist and physiologist who is renowned for being the first to use X rays in physiological studies. He also advanced understandings about homeostasis, the process by which the body maintains its temperature. In 1915 he coined the term 'flight or fight response' to describe the physiological reaction that takes place in response to a perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival. He also developed methods for storing blood and in 1931 discovered sympathin, an adrenaline-like substance released at the tips of certain nerve ends. 1871-10-19T00:00:00+0000| 19 Oct 1871 | | Walter B Cannon was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, USACannon | Harvard Medical School | Physiology |
Sabin was a pioneering medical scientist who was the first woman to be appointed a full professor at Johns Hopkins University. She was also the first woman to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to head up a department at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. For many years she was involved in the investigation of the lymphatic system. She demonstrated that lymphatic vessels develop from a special layer of cells in certain fetal veins. She also made many discoveries relating to the origin and development of blood vessels and blood cells. 1871-11-09T00:00:00+0000| 9 Nov 1871 | | Florence R Sabin was born in Colorado, USAFlorence Sabin | | |
Barnes, the son of a butcher, was a chemist and businessman who in 1902, together with Herman Hille, devised the formula for Argyrol, a topical antimicrobial agent that contains silver and a protein extracted from wheat. The two scientists set up the company Barnes and Hille to market the compound, which they developed while employed by the pharmaceutical company H. K. Mulford. Promoted for use in a wide range of products, including eye-drops, nasal sprays and suppositories for conditions affecting the genitourinary tract, Argyrol gained widespread popularity around the world. By 1907 Argyrol sales had reached $250,000 and Barnes had become a millionaire. Argyrol dominated the topical ophthalmic antimicrobial market until the rise of sulphonamides in the 1930s. 1872-01-02T00:00:00+0000| 2 Jan 1872 | | Albert C. Barnes was born in Philadelphia, PA, USABarnes | | Antibacterial agents |
Mendel was a biochemist who helped discover vitamins A and B, lysine and tryptophan and their role in nutrition. Vitamin A was discovered in 1913 in butter fat. Diets deficient in vitamin A were shown to cause xerophthalmia, a condition in which the eye fails to produce tears. Water-soluble vitamin B was also found in milk in 1913.1872-02-05T00:00:00+0000| 5 Feb 1872 | | Lafayette Benedict Mendel was born in Dehli, NY, USMendel | Yale University | Nutrition |
Tsvet was a botanist who is credited with the invention of adsorption chromatography. He first described the method in 1901. His technique involved using ether and alcohol to extract plant pigments from leaves and then passing the resulting solution through a column of calcium carbonate. The advantage of the process was that it separated pigments into different coloured bands. By using the process Tsvet was able to demonstrate that plants had two forms of chlorophyll and eight additional pigments. Chromatography is now an important laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture.1872-05-14T00:00:00+0000| 14 May 1872 | | Mikhail Tsvet was born in Asti, ItalyTsvet | University of Warsaw, Warsaw Technical University | Biochemistry, Chromatography |
Duggar was an American botanist who is best known for his discovery of chlortetracycline (Aureomycin), the first of a number of tetracycline antibiotics. In 1943, at the age of 74, he managed to isolate the organism that produced the antibiotic Auremycin while experimenting with field soil samples. Introduced into the market in 1948, Auremycin paved the way to the development of new generations of antibiotics. Known nationally as an exceptional plant pathologist, Duggar wrote three key horticulture textbooks and taught at several well-respected institutions including Harvard, Radcliffe, and Cornell universities.1872-09-01T00:00:00+0000| 1 Sep 1872 | | Benjamin M Duggar was born in Gallion, Hale County, Alabama, USADuggar | University of Wisconsin, Lederle Laboratories | Antibacterial agents |
Euler-Chelpin was a German-born Swedish biochemist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1929 for working out the role of enzymes in the fermentation of sugar. His work laid the foundation for understanding the important processes that take place in the muscles for supplying energy. He also helped show that colouring agents like betacaronoids in vegetables get transformed into vitamin A in the body.
1873-02-15T00:00:00+0000| 15 Feb 1873 | | Hans von Euler-Chelpin was born in Augsburg, GermanyEuler-Chelpin | Stockholm University | Biochemistry |
d'Herelle was a microbiologist who co-discovered bacteriophages (phages), viruses that infect bacteria that are now major tools in biotechnology. He isolated the first phage from chicken faeces in 1919. Following this, he successfully treated chickens infected with typhus with the phage and in August 1919 cured a patient with dysentery using the same method. This laid the basis for the development of phage therapy. 1873-04-25T00:00:00+0000| 25 Apr 1873 | | Felix d'Herelle was born in Montreal, Canadad'Herelle | Pasteur Institute | Antibacterial agents, Bacteriophages, Bacteriology, Virology, Phage therapy |
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