INVENTORS HALL OF FAME
Rachel Fuller Brown
Patent No. 2,797,183 Nystatin and Method of Producing It
Rachel Fuller Brown was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and received her undergraduate education at Mount Holyoke College. She later earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from the University of Chicago.
Brown ultimately worked to develop the world's first useful antifungal antibiotic, nystatin, created through a long-distance scientific collaboration.
Two researchers, Brown in Albany and Elizabeth Lee Hazen in New York City worked for the New York State Department of Health. They shared tests and samples through the U.S. Mail. Hazen was pursuing an antifungal antibiotic, and Brown added the skills needed to identify, characterize, and purify the various substances produced in the bacteria cultures found in soil samples.
They ultimately produced the antibiotic, Nystatin, named for the New York State Department of Health. It received FDA approval in 1954 and was then introduced in a practical form. The drug cured many disfiguring and disabling fungal infections of the skin, mouth throat, and intestinal tract. And it could also be combined with other antibacterial drugs to balance their effects.
In addition, Nystatin has been used to treat Dutch elm disease and in rescuing water-damaged works of art from molds.
Both Brown and Hazen donated all Nystatin royalties (more than $13 million by the time the patent expired) to academic science through the nonprofit Research Corporation. Brown later became a pioneer in encouraging women to study science.
The above information was supplied by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., Room 1D01-Crystal Plaza 3, 2021 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia 22202. Videotapes and printed materials are currently available. For more information, visit the Foundation's web site at http://www.invent.org
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