Elizabeth Lee Hazen

Elizabeth Lee Hazen was an American microbiologist and physiologist most known for her contribution to the development of nystatin. Her education focused on science and research where she developed a passion for microbiology. Her peers and teachers knew her as a quick learner and a bright student, and she was one of the first women to earn a doctorate at Columbia University in 1927. In 1948, she teamed up with Rachel Fuller Brown to develop nystatin, the first non-toxic drug treatment for fungal infections in humans. Her research had multiple applications ranging from saving infected trees to restoring paintings and artwork damaged due to mold. Hazen and Brown were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame posthumously in 1994, the second and third women achieving that honor.