Gertrude Elion and Baruch Blumberg: Vaccine Hunters

Millions of lives are saved each year with the vaccines developed by these two Nobel Prize recipients.  Their discoveries were some of the  greatest medical achievements of the 20th century.    Gertrude Elion was a biochemist, who unraveled the mysteries and mechanisms of leukemia, herpes, gout, malaria & meningitis in order to create effective medications. She transformed kidney transplantation, by creating the first immune suppressant to prevent rejection by organ recipients.   And her work led to the first successful HIV/AIDS drug.  Baruch Blumberg was a physician who traveled the world studying the interplay of genetics and environment on disease response, and along way discovered the virus that was causing Hepatitis B - a leading cause of fatal kidney disease and cancer.  He then created a vaccine for it, and is believed to have prevented more cancer deaths than any other human being. 

(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2020