Elizabeth Lee Hazen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Lee Hazen
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Hazen (left) and Rachel Fuller Brown
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| Born | August 24, 1885 |
| Died | June 24, 1975 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Mississippi University for Women Columbia University |
| Known for | Developing nystatin, the first anti-fungal drug |
| Awards | The Squibb Award in Chemotherapy The Rhoda Benham Award of Medical Mycological Society of the Americas The Chemical Pioneer Award of the American Institute of Chemists National Inventors Hall of Fame |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | New York State Department of Public Health, Division of Laboratories and Research |
Elizabeth Lee Hazen (August 24, 1885 in Mississippi – June 24, 1975) is 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. 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.
Early life
Elizabeth Lee Hazen was born on August 24, 1885, in Rich, Mississippi, to William Edgar Hazen and Maggie Harper Hazen. She was their second daughter and middle of three children. Her parents died when she was four, and the three children were adopted by an aunt and uncle.
Education
Hazen attended the Mississippi University for Women (then Mississippi Industrial Institute and College), and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree there in 1910. While teaching biology and high school physics in Jackson, Mississippi, she continued her education by attending summer schools at the University of Tennessee and University of Virginia. Following her teaching job, Hazen applied and was accepted into the Department of Biology at Columbia for graduate studies. She completed a Master's of Biology at Columbia University in 1917 and a Ph.D. in microbiology there in 1927, one their first female doctoral students. She served as an Army diagnostic laboratory technician during World War I. In the 1920s, while studying at Columbia University, Hazen worked with ricin and its effect on Clostridium botulinum toxin.
Scientific work
After graduation
With her strong science background and experience in the field, Hazen continued her research in bacteria and immunology. She was presented with an opportunity in 1931 to work with the New York State Department of Health. She accepted and worked in the Bacterial Diagnosis Laboratory Division in New York City. She had several major accomplishments there in the field of bacterial diagnosis. Among her works there were tracing an outbreak of anthrax, locating sources of tularemia, and tracing the source of food poisoning from improperly preserved foods.
From there, she worked at the New York office of the Division of Laboratories and Research of the State Department of Public Health. There she learned, trained, and studied about fungi and fungal diseases. She had picked up a project there and started producing her own culture collection. This collection and the research along with it helped place her name in the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Patent
Nystatin (antifungal / antibiotic) Patent Number: 2,797,183
A patent was filed in late 1950 for nystatin. It took Hazen, Brown, and Squibb Research Company six and half years to secure a patent for the invention. Two reasons caused the delay. First, testing had to be done to prove the utility of the product. This required animal and human trials to be conducted for FDA approval. Nystatin was granted approval by the FDA and released by Squibb in 1954. In addition, an article published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology in 1954 suggested Hazen and Brown exposed methods of nystatin in another article previously published in 1949. If this were the case, then it would have been over a year before a patent was filed, rendering the pending patent useless. However, after research and a signature by the author of the 1954 article stating there was no connection, the U.S. Patent Office issued a patent on June 25, 1957. It covered nystatin and the method of preparation for the next 17 years. Hazen and Brown obtained the patent in 1957.
Later life
Hazen continued to do research in laboratory in her later years as her experience and skills were very useful and beneficial to those around her. She continued to study the several uses of nystatin for other diseases and conditions.
Awards
Towards the end of her life, she received a series of awards for her success, including the Squibb Award in Chemotherapy, the Rhoda Benham Award of the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas, an honorary degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the Chemical Pioneer Award of the American Institute of Chemists. After her death, Hazen was nominated and accepted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1994.
See also
In Spanish: Elizabeth Lee Hazen para niños
