# Gertrude B. Elion

> She turned drug discovery from guesswork into science—designing compounds by understanding their biological targets instead of hoping something worked—and gave the world AZT, the first weapon against AIDS.

*American biochemist and pharmacologist (1918–1999)*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/gertrude-b-elion

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Academic ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Academics
- **Country:** United States
- **Born:** 1918-01-23
- **Died:** 1999-02-21
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** female

## Bio

Gertrude Belle Elion was born January 23, 1918, and trained as a biochemist and pharmacologist at a time when labs rarely opened their doors to women. Working alongside George H. Hitchings, she pioneered rational drug design: studying the biochemistry of disease to build molecules that would disrupt it precisely. The approach yielded azathioprine, the first immunosuppressive drug that made organ transplants viable, and acyclovir, the first successful antiviral against herpes. Later her methods produced AZT, the first widely used treatment for AIDS. In 1988 she shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Hitchings and Sir James Black. She died February 21, 1999, having rewritten the rules of how medicine fights disease.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 61.4 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: FALLING)
- **Historical depth:** 24.2 / 100
- **Now attention:** 0.0 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 70.0 / 100

## Topics
#Scientists, #Academic, #Chemistry, #United States, #Americas, #20th Century

## Sources
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35703)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Gertrude%20B.%20Elion)
- [جرترود اليون](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86)
- [Gertrude Belle Elion](https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [گرترود بی. الیون](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%A8%DB%8C._%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%86)
- [Gertrud Elion](https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrud_Elion)
- [Гертруда Элайон](https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%AD%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BE%D0%BD)
- [Гертруда Бэл Элаян](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%91%D1%8D%D0%BB_%D0%AD%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%8F%D0%BD)
- [Гъртруд Елион](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D1%8A%D1%80%D1%82%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B4_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%BD)
- [গারট্রুড এলিয়ন](https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%9F%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%A1_%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%A8)
- [Gertrude Belle Elion](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [گێرترود ئێلیۆن](https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%AF%DB%8E%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%A6%DB%8E%D9%84%DB%8C%DB%86%D9%86)
- [Gertrude Belle Elionová](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elionov%C3%A1)
- [Gertrude B. Elion](https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Gertrude B. Elion](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Gertrude Belle Elion](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [Gertrude B. Elion](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Gertrude Belle Elion](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [Gertrude Elion](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Elion)
- [Gertrude Belle Elion](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [گرترود بی. الیون](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%AF%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%A8%DB%8C._%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%86)
- [Gertrude B. Elion](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Gertrude Elion](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Elion)
- [Gertrude Elion](https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Elion)
- [Wikiquote](https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [Wikiquote](https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elionov%C3%A1)
- [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gertrude_B._Elion)
- [Wikiquote](https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gertrude_Belle_Elion)
- [Wikiquote](https://hy.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D4%B3%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%BF%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A4_%D4%B7%D5%AC%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%B8%D5%B6)

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