Elizabeth Lee Hazen
Elizabeth Lee Hazen (born August 24, 1885 in Rich , Mississippi , † June 24, 1975 in Seattle ) was an American microbiologist who developed the antifungal drug nystatin with Rachel Fuller Brown .
Life
Hazen was orphaned at the age of three and grew up with his grandmother and an uncle. She graduated from Mississippi University for Women (then Mississippi Industrial Institute and College) with a bachelor's degree in 1910 and then taught physics and biology in Jackson, Mississippi . She also attended summer courses at universities and continued her studies at Columbia University with a master’s degree in biology in 1917 and a doctorate in microbiology in 1927. During World War I she was a laboratory technician in the US Army in Alabama and New York and was a deputy after the war Laboratory manager at a hospital in West Virginia before continuing her studies at Columbia University (College of Physicians and Surgeons and Presbyterian Hospital) in 1923. From 1931 she worked for the New York Health Department in the laboratory for bacterial diagnosis and later in the research division (Division of Laboratories and Research) in New York City, where she specialized in fungi and fungal diseases . It was here in the 1940s that the chemist Rachel Fuller Brown collaborated on the search for practicable fungicides that were less toxic to humans . In particular, they examined actinomycetes from soil samples, following a screening method for antibiotics by Selman Waksman . By 1950 they had a success with nystatin . The drug emerged as the first non-toxic antifungal agent with a wide range of uses. It was launched in 1954. Brown and Hazen continued their collaboration and found more antibiotics - phalmycin and capacidin.
Both received the Squibb Award in 1955 and were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994 . In 1975 she received the Chemical Pioneer Award with Brown (as the first women ever) and both received the Sara Benham Award.
Nystatin royalties of over $ 13 million went to charitable causes.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hazen, Elizabeth Lee |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American microbiologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 24, 1885 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rich , Mississippi |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 24, 1975 |
| Place of death | Seattle |