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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell: The first woman in the U.S to earn a degree in medicine.
(1821-1910)
Bio: Dr. Blackwell was born in Bristol, England. Dr. Blackwell faced challenges and adversity on her journey to becoming doctor-facing constant ridicule from her male peers. Despite this, she graduated with a degree in Medicine from Geneva Medical College in 1849. She established a medical college for women in 1867 and later co-opened an infirmary for the poor.
Links: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/celebrating-10-women-medical-pioneers -
Dr. Nadezhda Suslova: the first Russian woman to earn a degree in Medicine.
(1843-1918)
Bio: Dr. Suslova was a bold woman. She was determined to become a doctor, despite a lack of women’s rights in Russia at the time. Dr. Suslova enrolled in the UZH Faculty of Medicine in 1867 and earned her doctorate in the same year. She specialized in pediatrics and gynecology. Later on in her life, Dr. Suslova would provide free medical care to those who lived in the slums of Alushta.
Link: https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/2017/Nadeschda-Suslowa.html -
Cecelia Grierson: The first woman to earn a medical degree in Argentina and the
(1859-1934)
Bio: Dr. Grierson was born in Buenos Aires. She initially became a teacher. Dr. Grierson went on to become the first woman to earn a medical degree in Argentina, in 1889, overcoming sexism. Dr. Grierson founded the first nurse's school in Argentina, multiple societies, and helped to pioneer multiple modern practices. These practices included developing kinesiology and working with special needs children.
Link: https://www.entitymag.com/cecilia-grierson-doctor-argentina/ -
Yoshioka Yayoi: Founded the first medical school for women in Japan
(1871-1959)
Bio: Yoshioka was born in 1871 and wanted to practice medicine despite growing up in a time in Japan when it was not considered proper for a woman to be educated. Yoshioka went on to become a physician, as well as a women’s rights activist. She was a sex education advocate and opened the Tokyo Women’s Medical University in 1900, the first medical school for women in Japan. Link: https://hannah.nazri.org/inspirational-asian-women-in-medicine-a-non-exhaustive-list -
Dr. Andrea Evangelina Rodríguez Perozo: The First Woman to become a doctor in the Dominican Republic
(1879-1947)
Bio: Dr. Rodriguez was born in 1879 and raised by her grandmother. She became the first woman doctor in the Dominican Republic. She moved to Ramom Santana, a place under the rule of a dictator. She advocated for safe sex, family planning, and birth control and helped the poor, which she was criticized for. The police murdered her in 1947 after going against Rafael Trujillo's regime.
Link: https://offcolour.org/2020/03/04/phenomenal-woman-dr-evangelina-rodriguez/ -
Dr. Hilana Sedarous: The first woman to become a doctor in Egypt
(1904-1998)
Bio: Dr. Sedarous was born in 1904 in Tanta, Egypt. She was inspired by the uprising of women in 1919 to pursue her own career in medicine. She went to London to study medicine and mathematics, earning her M.D in 1930. She went back to Egypt to work in a hospital in Cairo. Later on, she went on to establish her own practice, specializing in gynecology and obstetrics.
Link: https://www.ssskasralainy.org/post/a-woman-who-made-history-dr-hilana-sedarous -
Henrietta Lacks: Immortal Cells
Henrietta Lacks contributed to the advancement of medicine, nonconsensually, by having a piece of her cancerous tumor taken by a doctor. Her cells were the first human cells grown in culture to be immortal.
Bio: Henrietta Lacks was a black woman born in 1920. She married her first cousin, David, after having her first child with him. She had five children and worked as a tobacco farmer.
Links: https://www.biography.com/scientist/henrietta-lacks
https://www.biography.com/scientist/henrietta-lacks -
Tu Youyou: Discovered artemisinin, one of the world's most effective anti-malarial drugs
(1930-present)
Tu Youyou was born in Ningbo, China. Tu Youyou attended Peking University and gained an education in pharmaceutical sciences. She discovered artemisinin, one of the world's most effective anti-malarial drugs, in 1971. She is now chief professor of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
Links: https://hannah.nazri.org/inspirational-asian-women-in-medicine-a-non-exhaustive-list
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2015/tu/biographical/ -
Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim: Awarded the top U.S. breakthrough prize (Twas-Lenovo Prize) and the Order of Mapungubwe, for her work in fighting the HIV epidemic in South Africa.
(1960-present)
Bio: Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim was born in 1960. She is an infectious diseases epidemiologist whose focus is on HIV. Her work in fighting the HIV epidemic in South Africa is groundbreaking, so much so that she was awarded the Order of Mapungubwe in 2013, the highest honor in South Africa. She was awarded the top U.S breakthrough prize for her work.
Link: https://www.one.org/international/blog/female-african-scientists-list/
https://www.caprisa.org/PressRelease/Read/10114 -
Dr. Serena Nik-Zainal: Awarded the 2019 Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Prize
Bio: Dr. Nik-Zainal was born in Malaysia and studied medicine at the University of Cambridge. Her research was in cancer genetics, identifying a novel localized phenomenon hypermutation termed “kataegis”. She was awarded the 2019 Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Prize with her colleagues for her work in cancer genetics using bioinformatics.
Links: https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/research/serenanikzainal/biography
https://hannah.nazri.org/inspirational-asian-women-in-medicine-a-non-exhaustive-list