Dr. Gerty Cori

Achievements:

• Paved the way to viable treatment options for diabetes.
• The third woman – and first American woman – to win the Nobel Prize in science.
• The first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Born Dr. Gerty Theresa Cori was the third woman – and first American woman – to win the Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 

Dr. Cori was born in Prague, then part of Austro-Hungary, into a Jewish family in 1896. Her father, Otto Radnitz, was a career chemist who became the manager of sugar refineries after inventing an effective way for refining sugar. Her mother, a friend of Franz Kafka, was a socialite and culturally sophisticated woman.

She decided to pursue a career in medicine at the age of 16 but found out she lacked the prerequisites in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and Latin. While most people would’ve understandably called it quits at this point, Dr. Cori recovered the equivalent of eight years of Latin, five years of science and five years of mathematics in a year.

While studying for her degrees, she met Carl Cori, an aspiring medical student who was impressed by her charm, intelligence and sense of humor. They married and moved to Vienna. Facing dire financial difficulties and increasing anti-semitism, they both decided to immigrate to the United States. They were both employed at the State Institute for the Study of Malignant Diseases (now the Roswell Park Cancer Institute) in Buffalo, New York.

Although discouraged to work together, they specialized in analyzing carbohydrate metabolism. Together with her husband, she invested a large number of her research efforts into biochemistry, metabolism, and physiology. Their main interest was in how glucose is metabolized in the human body and how hormones regulate this process.

After years of work, Dr. Cori and her husband identified the enzyme that facilitates the decomposition of glycogen into glucose. Dr. Cori’s groundbreaking research, at times overlooked in favor of her husband’s contribution, served as the basis for future viable treatment options for diabetics.

One of the most famous women in medicine of all times, Dr. Cori (together with Carl Cori) received in 2004 the distinction of National Historic Chemical Landmark in recognition of her work in clarifying the carbohydrate metabolism.