In honor of Women's History Month, Cenmed is highlighting ten women whose accomplishments changed medicine forever.

From developing pioneering inventions in sterilization to launching revolutionary career paths, these women used their ingenuity and talent to leave an indelible mark on medical history.

Here is a list of the top ten female trailblazers who forged a path into the scientific world and made incredible advancements within medical technology:

1. Marie Curie (1867-1934)

Madame Curie is often the first person who comes to mind when people think of famous historical scientists who also happened to be women. Curie was raised in Warsaw by intellectual parents and was exposed to math and physics at a young age. She enrolled at a Polish institution that admitted women because she wanted to continue learning. In 1891, Curie and her sister relocated to Paris, where they enrolled in their university to pursue studies in physics, arithmetic, and chemistry. Her perseverance paid off, and by 1893, she was employed in an industrial laboratory and had graduated with a degree in physics. Pierre Curie, an industrial physics and chemistry professor, was introduced to Curie. They were close since they both loved science, worked in the same lab, and finally got married. 

Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium and polonium, which allowed for the creation of x-rays and the development of cancer treatment methods. As a result of her work discovering radioactivity, Curie became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize.

2. Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019)

Patricia Bath understood from an early age that she wanted to become a doctor. Her motivation was Dr. Albert Schweiter, a philosopher and humanitarian who helped to finance medical services in Africa. Bath was a remarkable student who won honors and recognition for her contributions to science. After completing her internship at Harlem Hospital, she graduated with her medical degree from Washington, D.C.'s Howard University College of Medicine. Bath observed that many of the patients at their clinic were blind or visually challenged while they were in Harlem. This motivated her to support her neighborhood.

In 1986, Patricia Bath created the Laserphaco Probe System, a laser-based technique that improves the accuracy and comfort of cataract surgery. Bath became the first African-American to complete an ophthalmology residency in 1973. She was the first physician of color to receive a medical patent in 1988.

3. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (1921-2011)

Rosalyn Yalow was born to Jewish parents in New York City. Yalow's mother advised her to choose a teaching career, but she was drawn to nuclear physics and decided to major in physics instead. A large number of men were recruited into the military at the outset of World War II. In 1941, Yalow received an invitation to enroll in graduate school at the University of Illinois because of the lack of available males. Since 1971, she was the first female graduate of the university's physics program. She began working at a research position at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital in 1947 after earning her PhD in 1945, with the goal of advancing the use of radioisotopes in medicine.

Together with Solomon Berson, medical physicist Rosalyn Yalow created the radioimmunoassay. After the finding, tiny quantities of "biological active substances," including viruses, blood, and tissue, could be examined by researchers. Ultimately, the technique was used to identify viruses such as hepatitis in blood banks and to calculate the optimal doses of medications. In the end, Yalow's efforts earned her a Nobel Prize in 1977.

4. Flossie Wong-Staal (1946-2022)

1946 saw the birth of Flossie Wong-Staal in Guangzhou, China. Her family migrated to Hong Kong when she was a little girl, along with a large number of other Chinese people following the Communist revolution. While attending the Maryknoll Convent School in Hong Kong, Wong-Staal demonstrated exceptional academic performance in her scientific courses. Her parents and educators urged her to pursue a scientific degree and enroll in an American institution. Wong-Staal graduated at the age of eighteen from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor's degree in science and bacteriology. In 1972, she attended UCLA to obtain a Ph.D. in molecular biology.

Wong-Staal successfully cloned the HIV virus in 1985 and utilized the result to map the virus's genome. This achievement led to the creation of a genetic map of the virus, which made HIV blood testing possible. Wong-Staal, a Chinese-American virologist and molecular biologist, achieved the first viral cloning. Wong-Staal was named the 1980s' top female scientist by the Institute for Scientific Information.

5. Ida Henrietta Hyde (1857-1945)

In Davenport, Iowa, Ida Henrietta Hyde was born to German immigrants. At the age of fourteen, she started working as an apprentice milliner in order to support her family. She became quite interested in Hyde while working since she came across a book on biology and the natural world. She continued her studies by enrolling in a school that prepared students for college and then going to the University of Illinois. Despite having to put her studies on constant hold because of family matters, she managed to graduate from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the age of 34. Hyde was able to undertake research while working as an assistant at Woods Hole Biological Laboratory. Later, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae awarded her a European Fellowship.

Ida Henrietta Hyde invented the microelectrode in the 1930s. Hyde was also the first female graduate of the University of Heidelberg, accepted into Harvard Medical School, elected to the American Physiological Society, and conducted research there.

6. Dr. Ann Tsukamoto

Ann Tsukamoto, an Asian American inventor and stem cell researcher, rose to fame rapidly after her birth in California. Tsukamoto obtained her Ph.D. in immunology and macrobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and then finished her postdoctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco.

Tsukamoto devised a method for isolating stem cells, an accomplishment that had long baffled researchers. In the end, the discovery paved the way for more oncological advancements. In the end, Tsukamoto was mentioned in a patent from 1991 that described a method for separating human stem cells. She is currently working with a firm called Stem Cells Inc. to further her research on stem cells.

7. Letitia Mumford Geer (1852-1935)

In 1852, Letita Mumford Geer was born in New York to a large family. Geer first showed signs of being fascinated with the medical field at an early age. She was dismantling societal obstacles for women even before she began her career as a nurse.

Letita Geer created the medical syringe that is used today in 1899. Syringes needed to be used with two hands prior to her invention. "A cylinder, a piston, and an operating rod that is bent upon itself to form a smooth and rigid arm terminating in a handle that, in its extreme positions, is located within reach of the fingers of the hand that holds the cylinder, thus permitting one hand to hold and operate the syringe" is how the invention—which was given a patent—was defined.

8. Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)

In 1920, Rosalind Franklin was born into a prosperous and powerful Jewish family in Britain. Franklin showed early aptitude for academics and enrolled with her brother in a West London private day school. Franklin was characterized as "...alarmingly clever – she spends all her time doing arithmetic for pleasure, and invariably gets her sums right" by her aunt Helen Bentwich. At the age of eleven, she enrolled in one of the few girls' schools in West London, St. Paul's Girls' School, where chemistry and physics were taught. Franklin continued on to study chemistry at Newnham College in Cambridge. She received a lot of recognition for her continued work and was finally given a research scholarship at Newnham College, where she joined the University of Cambridge's physical chemistry department.

Some claim that the first person to understand how DNA is assembled was the English scientist Rosalind Franklin. Though it is up for debate, Franklin was a molecular biologist pioneer. He obtained the first DNA x-ray images. Her photos, obtained using a modified equipment by Franklin, provided a wealth of information regarding the assembly process of DNA. The 1953 publication of Francis Crick and James D. Watson's model of DNA was based on one of Franklin's images.

9-10. Betty Rozier and Lisa Vallino, BSN, RN

Lisa Vallino of Hazelwood, Missouri, used to frequently assist her brothers with a pretend first-aid box when she was younger. Her concern for other people ran in her family. "I've always known I wanted to be a nurse," Vallino remarked. The St. Louis native, who serves as CEO of I.V. House, has developed a multimillion-dollar medical company to provide care for patients of all ages, as she has always done.

A cover for intravenous catheters was invented by mother and daughter Betty Rozier and Lisa Vallino. As a result, utilizing IVs is now safer and simpler. A polyethylene device shaped like a computer mouse was the brainchild of Vallino, a nurse with extensive expertise in pediatric wards and emergency rooms, to serve as a sort of IV home. Along with her mother, Better Rozier, Vallino worked on the gadget. They were granted a patent for it in 1993. Vallino is the director of clinical affairs and president of the business called I.V. House. Rozier is currently the company's president emeritus. He served as president from 1991 until 2011.

A minority- and woman-owned business, Cenmed Enterprises was established in 1992 as a medical supply distributor in the New York City metro area. Over the years, the brand has evolved to include specialty chemical manufacturing, equipment maintenance and management, specialty product design and manufacture, and kitting and packaging. To learn more about our services and offerings, please call (732) 447-1100 or email at info@cenmed.com.