Gertrude B. Elion

American biochemist and pharmacologist (1918–1999)

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Lived 1918–1999, aged 81United States

United States ScientistsAcademic

Fame8.7
Momentum0.4
United States rank#225
Scientists rank#105
Wikipedia4.8K

Wikipedia
77 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in United States
#225
Scientists
Era
1918–1999
Aged 81

Summary

Updated 2026-05-29

Elion cracked the code on drug design in the mid-20th century, ditching trial-and-error for actual science. Her methods produced AZT for AIDS, acyclovir for herpes, and immunosuppressants for transplants—work that landed her a 1988 Nobel Prize at 60.

Biography

About

Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs. This new method focused on understanding the target of the drug rather than simply using trial-and-error. Her work led to the creation of the anti-retroviral drug AZT, which was the first drug widely used against AIDS. Her well known works also include the development of the first immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, used to…

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