Black pioneers have revolutionized many facets of the medical world, from sickle cell disease research to chemotherapy.
In celebration of Black History Month 2022’s theme of Black Health and Wellness, these are five Black innovators whose contributions to the medical field saved countless lives.
Marilyn Hughes Gaston
Marilyn Hughes Gaston’s journey to the height of sickle-cell disease research began when she interned at Philadelphia General Hospital in the mid-1960s.
A baby with an inflamed and infected hand entered Gaston’s care and she was unable to identify the child’s symptoms as indicative of sickle cell disease. Her supervisor prompted her realization of the baby’s sickle cell status, and from then on, Gaston devoted her work to the subject.
She made breakthroughs in sickle cell research, culminating in her 1986 study that made waves in the medical world. The study sparked the creation of sickle cell disease testing for newborn babies.
Four years after her landmark study, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care selected Gaston as its director. She was the first Black woman to hold the position.
Daniel Hale Williams
Pennsylvania-born Daniel Hale Williams established Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses, the first to have an integrated intern and nursing staff program, in 1891.
Two years later, Williams successfully operated on a patient who had been stabbed in the chest. News of William’s innovative open-heart surgery cemented the surgeon as a medical talent, and he went on to have a prosperous career in the industry.
Jane Cooke Wright
Jane Cooke Wright and Louis Wright, her father and one of Harvard Medical School’s first Black alumni, collaborated on chemotherapy research at Harlem’s Cancer Research Foundation.
When her father died in the early 1950s, Wright assumed the head position at the foundation and eventually became the highest ranked Black woman in an American medical institution for her many achievements in chemotherapy research.
Charles Drew
Charles Drew developed a method to safely store blood plasma, modernizing blood transfusion in the process.
In addition to the groundbreaking achievement, Drew was the American Board of Surgery’s first black surgeon examiner and the director of the first-ever American Red Cross Plasma Bank—according to BlackPast.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler became America’s first Black woman doctor in 1864, after completing her schooling at New England Female Medical College.
She later penned 1883’s “A Book of Medical Discourses: In Two Parts” about the health of women and kids.
