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Why do we love Gerty?
Dr. Gerty Theresa Radnitz Cori was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She shared the honor in 1947 with her husband Dr. Carl F. Cori. The Cori's work concentrated on carbohydrate metabolism and the prize was awarded "for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen." The honor made Gerty Cori the third woman ever to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences.
Gerty Cori was born on August 15, 1896 in Prague, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following an education at a Lyceum for girls, Gerty decided to follow an uncle's footsteps and become a doctor. She entered the German University of Prague and received a medical degree in 1920. While in medical school, Gerty met and married Carl, who shared many of her interests. The two decided to forgo a medical practice and focus on research instead.
Gerty and Carl immigrated to the United States in 1922 and joined the staff of the New York State Institute for the Study of Malignant Disease in Buffalo, New York. The Coris became U.S. citizens in 1928 and eventually settled in St. Louis where they took positions at Washington University School of Medicine. Gerty held the position of research associate and became a full Professor of Biochemistry in 1947.
Gerty suffered for ten years with Myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow disease but continued to work. Her later research contributed significantly to the understanding of glycogen storage diseases of children. She died October 26, 1957 of kidney failure.
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Biography:
Born - August 15, 1896
Prague (then in Austria-Hungary)
Died - October 26th, 1957
St. Louis, Missouri
Achievements:
- 1946 - Midwest Award of the American Chemical Society (shared with her husband)
- 1947 - Nobel Prize in Medicine (shared with her husband); Squibb Award in endocrinology (shared with her husband)
- 1948 - Garvan Medal; Women's National Press Award; St. Louis Award; Willard Gibbs Medal
- 1950 - Sugar Research Prize; Borden Foundation Award
- 1952 - Appointed to the National Science Foundation by President Truman
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In her own words -- On discovery:
"For a research worker, the unforgotten moments of his life are those rare ones, which come after years of plodding work, when the veil over nature's secret seems suddenly to lift and when what was dark and chaotic suddenly appears in a clear and beautiful light and pattern."
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