Rachel Fuller Brown
Birth : (1898-11-23)23 November 1898 Springfield, Massachusetts
Death : 14 January 1980(1980-01-14)(aged 81) Albany, New York
Personal Information
| Name | Rachel Fuller Brown |
|---|---|
| Birth | (1898-11-23)23 November 1898 Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Birth Place | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Death | (1980-01-14)(aged 81) Albany, New York |
| Died At | Albany, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma Mater | University of Chicago |
| Fields | Organic chemistry bacteriology |
| Famous Research | Co-discovery of antifungal agentnystatinwithElizabeth Lee Hazen |
Word Cloud
Events Occured in Scienctist Life
Rachel Fuller Brown (November 23, 1898 – January 14, 1980) was a chemist best known for her long-distance collaboration with microbiologist Elizabeth Lee Hazen in developing the first useful antifungal antibiotic, nystatin, while doing research for the Division of Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health.
Rachel Fuller Brown was born on November 23, 1898 in Springfield, Massachusetts to parents George Hamilton Brown, a real estate and insurance agent, and Annie Fuller, a director of religious education.
Brown earned her B.A. in chemistry and history in 1920.After working as a laboratory assistant for some time, Brown eventually began her graduate work and earned an M.S. in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1921.
After successfully completing her research project and the required course work in 1926, she submitted her Ph.D thesis.
However, the antibacterial and antifungal work that she is best known for did not begin until 1948.
Penicillin had been discovered in 1928, and in the years that followed, antibiotics were increasingly used to fight bacterial illness.
Announcement and production Brown and Hazen presented their work at the National Academy of Sciences regional meeting in 1950.
The production license was awarded to E. R. Squibb & Sons, who developed a safe method of mass production and produced the first sale of the tablets, named mycostatin, for human use in 1954.
In 1951, the Department of Health and Laboratories promoted Brown to associate biochemist.
Brown died on January 14, 1980 at the age of 81 in Albany, New York.
Both Brown and Hazen received many awards for their collaborative work, the first major prize being the Squibb Award in Chemotherapy in 1955.
Brown was also elected fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1957.
On Brown’s retirement in 1968, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the New York Department of Health.
In 1972, she was also given the Rhoda Benham Award of the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas.
Brown and Hazen were the first women ever to receive, in 1975, the American Institute of Chemists’ Chemical Pioneer Award.
Brown was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994.
Between 1957 and 1978, the Brown-Hazen Fund supported training and research in biomedical sciences and encouraged women to take up careers in science.
