Gladys Lounsbury Hobby

Gladys Lounsbury Hobby (November 19, 1910 – July 4, 1993), born in New York City, was an American microbiologist whose research played a key role in development and understanding of antibiotics. Her work took penicillin from a laboratory experiment to a mass produced drug during World War II.[1]

Life and career

Hobby graduated from Vassar College in 1931. She earned her master's and Ph.D. in bacteriology from Columbia University.[2] Hobby worked for Presbyterian Hospital and the Columbia Medical School from 1934 to 1943, during which time she worked with Dr. Karl Friedrich Meyer, a biochemist, and Dr. Martin Henry Dawson, a clinician and associate professor of medicine, on refining penicillin.[3][4] Hobby left Columbia University in 1944 to work for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in New York where she researched streptomycin and other antibiotics.[5]

In 1959, Hobby left Pfizer to specialized in chronic infectious diseases as chief of research at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange, New Jersey. She also served as an assistant clinical research professor in public health at Cornell University Medical College.[6]

In 1972 she founded the monthly publication, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and continued to edit it for eight years. She retired from her main career in 1977. In retirement Hobby wrote over 200 articles, working as a consultant and freelance science writer. She also published a book, Penicillin: Meeting the Challenge,[7] in 1985.

Hobby died of a heart attack in 1993.[8]

Key Contributions and Impact

Hobby is recognized for her work in creating a form of penicillin that was effective in humans. In 1940, Hobby and her colleagues, Dr. Karl Friedrich Meyer and Dr. Martin Henry Dawson, wrote and procured a sample of penicillin, became experts in the fermentation process, and began refining it into a drug. Hobby, Meyer, and Dawson performed the first tests of penicillin on humans in 1940 and 1941, before presenting at the American Society for Clinical Investigation.[9] Their findings received media coverage, which helped attract the interest of the pharmaceutical industry. During WWII, the United States Government funded the mass production of pencillin, which was used to treat infections in soldiers during the war.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (July 9, 1993). "Gladys Hobby, 82, Pioneer in Bringing Penicillin to Public". New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Gladys Hobby (1910-1993)". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (July 9, 1993). "Gladys Hobby, 82, Pioneer in Bringing Penicillin to Public". New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Miracle Cure". Vassar College. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Gladys Hobby (1910-1993)". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  6. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (July 9, 1993). "Gladys Hobby, 82, Pioneer in Bringing Penicillin to Public". New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Hobby, Gladys (1985). Penicillin: Meeting the Challenge. Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300032253.
  8. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (July 9, 1993). "Gladys Hobby, 82, Pioneer in Bringing Penicillin to Public". New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "The miracle cure". Vassar Innovators. Vassar College. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Gladys Hobby (1910-1993)". National Women's History Museum. National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.