Ten Female Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine in the History

The First Female to Win a Nobel Prize

In the history of Noble Prize, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel. Curie is also the only woman to have won multiple Nobel Prizes; in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Curie’s daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, which made the two the only mother-daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes.

Females to Win a Noble Prize in Physics and Chemistry

We have great female laureates who won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, then how’s the situation in Physiology or Medicine? As of 2015, Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 803 men, 22 organizations and 44 women. Among these 44 women, ten were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Let’s see what we’ve got in the history.

1、Gerty Theresa Cori from the United States won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 with Carl Ferdinand Cori and Bernardo Houssay. They were awarded for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogenwith.

           Gerty Theresa Cori                                                                                                                                                       Rosalyn Sussman Yalow

2、Rosalyn Sussman Yalow from the USA　won the Nobel Prize in 1977 with Carl Ferdinand Cori and Bernardo Houssay. They were awarded for the development of radioimmuno assays of peptide hormones.

3、Barbara McClintock from the United States won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for her discovery of mobile genetic elements.

                                                                                               
               Barbara McClintock                                                                                                                                                       Rita Levi-Montalcini

4、Rita Levi-Montalcini from Italy won the Nobel Prize in 1986 with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally from the United Stats.They were awarded for their discoveries of growth factors.

5、Gertrude B. Elion from the United States won the Nobel Prize in 1988 with James W. Black and George H. Hitchings. They were awarded for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard                                                                                                                                                          Linda B. Buck

6、Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard from Germany won the Nobel Prize in 1995 with Edward B. Lewis and Eric F. Wieschaus. They were awarded for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.

7、Linda B. Buck from the United States won the Nobel Prize in 2004 with Richard Axel. They were awarded for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system.

Linda B. Buck                                                                                                                                                                  Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

8、Françoise Barré-Sinoussi from France won the Nobel Prize in 2008 with Harald zur Hausen and Luc Montagnier. They were awarded for their discovery of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.

                                                                                         Elizabeth Blackburn                                                                                                                                                                 Carol W. Greider

9、Elizabeth Blackburn from Australia with Jack W. Szostak from the United States and Carol W. Greider with Jack W. Szostak also from the USA won the Nobel Prize in 2009. They were awarded for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

10、May-Britt Moser from Norway won the Nobel Prize in 2014 with Edvard Moser and John O’Keefe. They were awarded for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.

May-Britt Moser