In honor of Black History Month, I want to take some time and research black pioneers in pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences. Follow this 🧵to see what I learn. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM 
Day 1/28: Anna Louise James was born January 19, 1886, to Anna Houston and Willis Samuel James. Her father was enslaved on a Virginia plantation until he escaped at age 16 and headed north to Connecticut on the Underground Railroad. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BHM
Day 1/28: Anna was a diligent student that sought higher education after graduating high school. This drive led her to attend Brooklyn College of Pharmacy where she was the only woman in her class. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 1/28: James graduated from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy in 1908, as the first African American woman graduate and the first African American woman to be licensed as a pharmacist in Connecticut. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 1/28: After graduating from college, James ran a drugstore in Hartford. In 1911, she went to work with her brother-in-law, Peter Lane, at his Lane Pharmacy. Peter Lane was one of only two black pharmacists in early Connecticut. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BHM
Day 1/28: In 1917, Anna took over the operations of Lane Pharmacy and renamed it James Pharmacy. Anna, known to local residents as “Miss James,” operated the business until 1967. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 1/28: James Pharmacy received recognition on the National Register of Historic Places. Anna’s accomplishments have inspired many to pursue this rewarding, life-giving career. Anna Louise James, a pharmaceutical pioneer and beloved community leader. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BHM
Day 2/28: With all this vaccine talk going on now, it's only right that we learn about Onesimus. Onesimus was an African-born man enslaved to prominent New England Puritan minister Cotton Mather in Boston. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 2/28: At a time before modern medical treatment smallpox was killing many. Mather asked Onesimus if he had ever had smallpox. Onesimus described a practice common in Africa to prevent smallpox epidemics, but still relatively unknown in the American colonies. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 2/28: Onesimus described to Mather the process of inoculation that had been performed on him and others in his society in Africa. Onesimus is believed to have been inoculated at some point before being sold into slavery or during the slave trade. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BHM
Day 2/28: Onesimus explains that when the pus from an infected individual’s pustules is inserted into the broken skin of an uninfected person, the person suffers a mild reaction, but becomes immune to future infection #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 2/28: In 1716, Mather wrote to the Royal Society of London about how he had heard of the method “from my Negro-man Onesimus, who is a pretty Intelligent Fellow.” Privately, Mather wasn’t speaking as kindly of Onesimus. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 2/28: Smallpox struck Boston; Mather urged others to try inoculation. One white man, Zabdiel Boylston attempts the procedure on two enslaved Africans and his son. It works and the two go down in history as the lifesaving duo that brought inoculation to American colonies. #BHM
Day 2/28: But eventually Mather and Boylston were vilified for suggesting Africans might have valuable scientific knowledge as the medical community saw a conspiracy: The Africans were trying to kill their masters by tricking them into infecting themselves with smallpox. #BHM
Day 2/28: Inoculation existed in scientific documents where it was described as a “heathen practice” from Africa. The white puritans of Boston refused to defile their bodies with African heathenisms. The Puritans were America's first anti-vaxxers. lol #BHM
Day 2/28: Onesimus went on to partially purchase his freedom, still remaining in the service of Mather. His contribution to smallpox and its prevention lives on. Recently, there has been a growing move to give Onesimus his due for the development of inoculation in the US #BHM
Day 2/28: In 2016, Onesimus was voted among the 100 Best Bostonians of all time. However, he didn’t receive the credence Mather and Boylston got. Let's not forget Onesimus, the man who introduced America to Smallpox inoculation. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: Today for #PharmacyBHM let's learn about Alma Levant Hayden, a chemist, and the first African-American FDA scientist who unmasked a major cancer treatment scam in 1963. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth
Day 3/28: Alma Levant was born in Greenville, SC in 1927. A 1947 honors graduate from South Carolina State College, a historically black college in Orangeburg, Alma considered becoming a nurse, but had a ❤️ for chemistry that she "just didn't want to part from it". #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: Hayden went on to graduate from Howard University with a master's in chemistry and became an expert in spectrophotometry, the measurement of how substances absorb light. This expertise will be key! #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: FYI: This story really hits home for me and is really warming. I had a summer research internship at Howard University where I, too, learned how to use spectroscopy. Ms. Levant Hayden paved the way for me. 🥰 #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: In 1963, two doctors named Stevan Durovic and Andrew Ivy were treating cancer patients with Krebiozen, a compound they called a cure for the disease. What exactly was Krebiozen? That’s what Alma Levant Hayden had to find out. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BHM
Day 3/28: With great reluctance, the duo supplied samples of the drug, though in such tiny quantities that at first, researchers weren't sure it could be tested. But, on Sept. 3, 1963, in the lab of the FDAs Spectrophotometric Unit, Hayden opened the sealed vial. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: Pharmfact: Just a year before in 1962, in the wake of the Thalidomide tragedy, the Kefauver Harris Amendment increased the FDA's role in ensuring drug safety. With these provisions in place, the FDA sought to identify the ingredients in Krebiozen.
Day 3/28: Hayden carefully removed a microgram portion of the substance inside and mixed it with a potassium bromide solution and placed this in an infrared spectrometer. With the trace made, Hayden compared it with known chemicals until she found a match. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: The result? Krebiozen was creatine, an amino acid derivative plentifully available from meat in the ordinary diet. Creatine is a normal constituent of the human body, readily and cheaply available anywhere laboratory chemicals are sold. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: Krebiozen foreshadowed the debate over later miracle cures, such as laetrile in the 70s. But, Alma Hayden wasn't around for that. She died in 1967 leaving behind two children and her husband, Alonzo, a fellow NIH research chemist. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: Alma Levant Hayden is remembered as one of the first female African American scientists to work in Washington, first at the National Institutes of Health and then at FDA. It is believed she was the first black scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. #BHM
Day 3/28: In 1946, an official noted that no black scientists were employed at the agency. The FDA back then didn’t want to promote African-Americans, because its senior researchers occasionally had to testify in trials. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: “A colored person might prejudice the case in court, in certain sections of the country,” the official said. But, in 1963, Hayden became Chief of the Spectrophotometer Research Branch in the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 3/28: Hayden's report of Krebiozen is detailed in the U.S. Congressional Record. She also testified at the lengthy criminal trial of the promoters of Krebiozen, Stevan Durovic and Andrew C. Ivy. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: I was also able to find a host of Hayden's published work on infrared and other techniques for analyzing chemicals in a range of journals such as @JAPhAJournal @JPharmSciences #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 3/28: I'm ending today's thread with a quote from this amazing pioneer. In a 1962 “Success story panel” at Howard University, Alma Levant Hayden urged young women to "Always try to do the very best, and to be the very best, in whatever group you are working with." #TwitteRx
Day 4/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about James McCune Smith, an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Smith was born into slavery in 1813 in New York City and was set free on July 4, 1827, at age 14, by the Emancipation Act of New York. That was the final date when New York officially freed its remaining slaves. #TwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Smith attended the African Free School #2 in Manhattan. He was among many boys from the school who went on to have brilliant careers. It is clear, from the fragments of his schoolwork that survived, that Smith was an exceptionally bright student. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 4/28: Upon graduation, he applied to Columbia University and Geneva Medical College in New York State, but was denied admission due to his race. A priest, however, encouraged Smith to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland. #TwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Smith thrived in the academic environs of Britain’s “ancient” medieval university, a leader in the Scottish Enlightenment-a period w/ an outpour of intellectual & scientific conquest. There was relative racial tolerance in Scotland, which abolished slavery in 1833 #BHM
Day 4/28: While studying at Glasgow, Smith obtained three university degrees – a bachelor’s degree (1835), a master’s degree(1836), and his medical doctorate (1837). He went ton to complete his internship in Paris. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Smith knew he'd face discrimination upon his return to the US. When he tried to return after completing his studies, the ship captain refused passage because of his race. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: During his time in Scotland, he had studied at an elite university as an equal with white people. It was a revelation for an African American where equality of this kind was impossible in his own country and where slavery was still legal in the Southern states #TwitteRx
Day 4/28: While in Scotland, Smith joined the Glasgow Emancipation Society and met people in the Scottish and English abolitionist movement. When Smith returned to New York, he quickly joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and worked for the cause in the US. #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 4/28: When he did return, he was met with a hero's welcome by his former classmates and teachers. He said at a gathering, "I have striven to obtain education, at every sacrifice and every hazard, and to apply such education to the good of our common country." #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 4/28: He was the 1st university-trained African-American physician in the US & the 1st to have articles published in American journals. He was never admitted to @AmerMedicalAssn or local assns. @NYAMNYC awarded him a posthumous fellowship 171 yrs after denial #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 4/28: Smith established the first black-owned & operated pharmacy in the US. His friends and activists gathered in the back room of the pharmacy to discuss issues related to their work in abolitionism #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: At his pharmacy, Dr. Smith treated both black and white patients. Smith would eventually own two pharmacies and would continue to practice medicine for 25 years #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: In 1846, Smith was appointed as the only doctor of the Colored Orphan Asylum. Trying to protect the children, Smith regularly gave vaccinations for smallpox #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: In addition to his medical talents, Smith was a prolific writer and essayist. Historian John Stauffer of Harvard University says "He was one of the leaders within the movement to abolish slavery, and he was one of the most original and innovative writers of his time."
Day 4/28: Smith wrote the first case report by a black doctor, which his white associate read at a meeting of the New York Medical and Surgical Society. It proved that Smith was qualified but not admitted because of his race. #TwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Soon after, Smith published an article in the New York Journal of Medicine, the first by a black doctor in the US. He drew from his medical training to discredit popular ideas about differences among the races. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Smith wrote about medicine, pharmacy, literature, & geography, but his education and interests encouraged him to transcend his professional world to write about the people and world around him including a series of working-class African Americans in New York #TwitteRx
Day 4/28: In 1863 Smith was appointed as professor of anthropology at Wilberforce College, the first African American-owned and operated college in the US. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: However, Smith was too ill to take the position, dying two years later from congestive heart failure - 19 days before the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery.
Day 4/28: Smith’s greatest contribution was to repudiate Thomas Jefferson’s comment that “blacks are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind,” Exposing bias, fraudulent data, & noting that “race” is not a biological reality in the field of physiology. #BHM
Day 4/28: The University of Glasgow, Smith's alma mater, has named its new Learning Hub building the James McCune Smith Building. It'll open to students early in 2021 The University also established a scholarship and an annual lecture named after him #TwitteRx #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 4/28: Honestly, I'm out of characters describing Dr. James McCune Smith. He just keeps getting better - successful physician, 1st Black pharmacy owner, abolitionist, educator, brilliant scholar & writer. I urge each of you to read more about this pioneer! #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 4/28: To read more about Dr. James McCune Smith you can visit journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.115… #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #BlackTwitteRx
Day 5/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about Ella Nora Phillips Stewart, pioneering pharmacist, entrepreneur, and clubwoman. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella Nora Phillips was born near Berryville, VA. The oldest of 4, her parents, Eliza and Hamp Phillips, were sharecroppers. Thankfully, the family's lack of financial resources did not stand in the way of their daughter's academic success. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: When Phillips was 6, she was sent to live w/ her grandmother in Berryville to attend grade school. Phillips was an outstanding student who at age 12 won 5 scholarships to Storer College in Harper's Ferry, WV. Phillips graduated at age 17 #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella worked as a bookkeeper in a drugstore in Pittsburgh, PA sparking an interest in pharmacy and dreams of attending pharmacy school. Some of her friends discouraged her, saying it had never been done by a black woman. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackPharmacists #BHM
Day 5/28: She was encouraged by a local physician who befriended her, and in 1916 she succeeded, becoming the first African American to graduate from the @pittpharmacy #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella found allies in two Jewish classmates and soon began working @ Mendelsson Drug Company, which they owned. Soon she was promoted to manager @ Howard's Drugstore in Braddock, PA, which she later purchased and operated until 1918. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: From 1918-1920 she owned & operated Myers Pharmacy in Pittsburgh. At 27, she married prominent pharmacist William Wyatt Stewart on 1 May 1920. The couple moved to Ohio and opened a drugstore together, Stewarts' Pharmacy #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 5/28: Stewarts Pharmacy was unique. It was located in a mostly white community in Toledo where the Stewarts were extremely popular among their patrons. 2/3 of the citys African Americans moved there by the end of the 20s #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 5/28: Above the store was an apartment that served as a hub for the local and nat'l black community, including figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Marian Anderson, Carter G Woodson, Paul Robeson, & Mary McLeod Bethune, who often stayed when passing through town #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella is known as much for her medical career as for her leadership as a clubwoman. By the 30s she was a leading member in the community and was active with a wide range of organizations: @NAACP @YWCAUSA @TheAAPSS @lwvohio @dstinc1913 to name but a few #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: Through her contact w/ Mary McLeod Bethune, she was especially dedicated to the National Association of Colored Women, serving as treasurer for 12 yrs & as editor-in-chief of its National Notes. In 1948 she was elected president of the org #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: In the 50s Stewart began to move into politics. She was 1st appointed to the womens advisory committee for @USDOL & later toured 23 countries as a goodwill ambassador for @StateDept She was appointed in 63 to the executive board of @UNESCO #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: In 1957 Stewart was invited to the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, VA, her home state. When event officials realized she was Black, her invitation was rescinded & deemed a mistake. She was asked to return the invitation, which she refused #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: Her actions in the fight for integration & equality garnered her nat'l acclaim & made her one of Toledo’s most beloved citizens. In 1961, @city_of_toledo named a $3 million elementary school in her honor. She visited the School often. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: The School established a museum in Stewarts honor that houses many global artifacts from her travels, as well as awards & personal memorabilia. Oral histories & papers can be found @bgsu in Ohio and the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella Phillips Stewart died @ 94 on November 27th, 1987 in Toledo, Ohio. Stewart was regarded as one of the foremost citizens of Toledo and of the world. Read this article posted in @toledonews shortly after her death #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 5/28: Ella Nora Phillips Stewart, known not only as one of the 1st African American female pharmacists but also for her struggles against discrimination & her impact on the community. Prior to her death Stewart was the oldest living black woman pharmacist in America #TwitteRx
Day 5/28: More pictures of Mrs. Stewart for your viewing. There's a ton @ lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/i… #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 6/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe Marble (1885-1966), an early African-American woman pharmacist and the first in Kentucky #TwitteRx #BlackTwiteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #MedTwitter
Day 6/28: Marble was born in Yazoo City, MS in 1885 & graduated from Yazoo City High School in 1903. She earned a bachelors in pharmacy 4rm @MeharryMedical in 1906 & passed examinations for pharmacists in many states, gaining the highest marks of 77 applicants in MS in 1908 #BHM
Day 6/28: From 1907-09 Marble worked at @ Jeter&Jeter drugstore in Oklahoma City then @ a Brown&Fisher drugstore in Laurel, MS from 1909-11. For 2 yrs she worked as a hospital pharmacist @ then Tuskegee Normal and Industrial College in Alabama. #TwitteRx #BlackPharmacist #BHM
Day 6/28: From 1915, Marble operated her own drugstore in Yazoo City, before moving to Lexington, Kentucky in 1921 along with other members of her family. Marble remained in Lexington for the rest of her life, becoming "one of the most successful businesswomen in Kentucky". #BHM
Day 6/28: Marble renovated a property into a combination of physician offices, a pharmacy, & a residence where she lived for the remainder of her life. She was also partner of a company that hosted concerts in Lexington by Cab Calloway & Duke Ellington. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 6/28: In 2009 an electrician working @ the property found items belonging to Marble in the attic, including correspondence with Madame C.J. Walker, the first African-American businesswoman to become a millionaire. #TwitteRx #BlackTwiteRx #BlackPharmacists #BHM #MedTwitter
Day 6/28: She was elected as an office-bearer of the pharmaceutical section of the @NationalMedAssn in 1913, and as vice president of the NMA in 1919. She was also featured in the 1915 "Who's Who of the Colored Race." #TwitteRx #BlackTwiteRx #BlackPharmacists #BHM #MedTwitter
Day 6/28: Most of Marble‘s story has been lost, but lets not forget this amazing pioneer. I thank Dr. Marble for her contributions to pharmacy & African American businesses! kentucky.com/news/local/com… #TwitteRx #BlackTwiteRx #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #MedTwitter
Day 7/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about Jane Hinton (1919–2003), a pioneer in the study of bacterial antibiotic resistance & one of the first two African-American women to gain the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 7/28: Jane Hinton was born on May 1 1919. At 6 her parents sent her to school in Europe to ensure that she had the best education available to black students @ the time. Hinton returned to the US in 1928 graduating 4rm highschool @ Montpelier Seminary in Vermont in 1935 #BHM
Day 7/28: She then enrolled @SimmonsUniv in Boston & earned a bachelors in 1939. Her dad William Augustus Hinton, son of former slaves was a bacteriologist & pathologist & expert in the diagnosis and treatment of syphilis, including the development of tests for syphilis #TwitteRx
Day 7/28: Her father was the first African-American professor @Harvard and the first African-American author of a textbook. He entered laboratory medicine because racism in Boston prevented him from gaining an internship in medicine.#TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwittter #BHM
Day 7/28: In 1931 Hinton's dad developed a Medical Lab Techniques course & opened it to women, though usually not open to them. Hinton worked in her dads lab & as an assistant. At the time she co-developed the Mueller-Hinton agar w/ John Howard Mueller #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 7/28: This agar was a medium developed to isolate the bacteria that caused gonorrhea and meningogoccal meningitis. Mueller&Hinton discovered that starch in the agar helped bacterial growth & prevented bacteria toxins from interfering w/ antibiotic testing #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 7/28: It became the most widely used culture medium for Neisseria. In the 1960s, tests indicated its suitability for detecting whether bacteria are susceptible to antibiotics. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 7/28: The Clinical & Laboratory Standards Inst, which establishes the best international laboratory standards adopted the Kirby-Bauer technique using Mueller-Hinton agar as the gold standard for antibiotic testing #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackTwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 7/28: After working as a med tech in WWII, Hinton decided she wanted to be a veterinarian & enrolled @pennvet She was class historian & secretary, graduating w/ her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1949 becoming one of the first African-American woman vets in the US #TwitteRx
Day 7/28: After gaining her degree, Hinton practiced as a small animal veterinarian in Canton, Massachusetts and then a federal government inspector in Framingham, Massachusetts #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 7/28: Jane retired about 5 yrs later in 1960 & spent the rest of her life caring for a garden and a variety of pets at her home. She died on April 9, 2003, a few weeks before her 84th birthday #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 7/28: On Jane “She succeeded in this field @ an age when her ability to pursue it to the utmost was severely limited. Its important that we celebrate her achievements so that we finally see the edifice of scientific knowledge being built by all of the peoples who contributed"
Day 8/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about Julia Pearl Hughes (Julia P.H Coleman-Robinson), a pharmacist, entrepreneur, social activist, and business executive. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 8/28: Hughes was born in Alamance County, NC. She was educated in local schools & attended Scotia Seminary, graduating in 1893. After teaching school for a few yrs, she enrolled @howard_pharmacy, graduating w/ her Pharm.D in 1897 #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 8/28: After graduation, Hughes moved to Philadelphia, PA where she ran the pharmacy of the Frederick Douglass Hospital while taking post-graduate work at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now @USciences) #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 8/28: In 1899 she opened her own drug store in South Philadelphia, called Hughes Pharmacy. She was the first African-American female pharmacist to own & operate her own drug store. After marrying and moving to Newport News she also opened another pharmacy #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 8/28: By 1914 she co-founded a newspaper w/ T. Thomas Fortune and also became a hairdresser. As a chemist, she experimented w/ concoctions designed to grow & straighten kinky hair & eradicate dandruff; making shampoos, soaps, powders & lotions. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 8/28: She & then-husband formed the Columbia Chemical Company to produce & market a hair product called Hair-Vim. The company was dissolved in September 1910 as Dr. Coleman established the Hair Care-Vim Chemical Company, with herself as president & manager #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 8/28: Dr. Coleman's business venture was very successful, soon selling her newspaper venture to devote herself full-time to the production and sale of her hair lotions, soaps, face creams, corn salves, and shampoos #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 8/28: Although running behind such leaders in the field as Madame C. J. Walker & Annie Turnbo Malone, Dr. Coleman was able to keep Hair-Vim in business for ~30 yrs. She provided beauty parlors w/ free products & encouraged owners shops to use them on clients #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 8/28: On May 25, 1918 Dr. Coleman took a trip to Baltimore, but was forced to give up her seat in first class b/c of her race. When she reached Baltimore, she found a local African American attorney W. Ashbie Hawkins & sued the railroad. She won her case and was awarded $20
Day 8/28: Dr. Coleman was a member of @NationalMedAssn as pharmaceutical secretary, the National Council of Negro Women, @NAACP & the local chapter @NatUrbanLeague She also got into politics & was the 1st African American woman to run for elective office in the state of New York
Day 9/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about Thomas Elkins (1818 – 1900), an African-American dentist, abolitionist, surgeon, pharmacist, and inventor. #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #MedTwitter #BlackTwitteRx
Day 9/28: Born in NY, Elkins studied surgery & dentistry w/ Alden March, founder of @AlbanyMed He also operated a pharmacy in Albany for decades & offered dental care. In 1848 Frederick Douglass’ newspaper reported he also served as a school superintendent #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 9/28: He received his education in pharmacy from a physician/druggist & spent ~10 yrs working w/ him. Elkins also ran a small drugstore for 17 yrs where he precepted others. H/e due to economic difficulties he had to close down & focused on dentistry & minor surgery #TwitteRx
Day 9/28: Elkins played a significant role in supporting the Underground Railroad in Albany, NY during 1840s & 1850s. An abolitionist, Elkins was the secretary of the Vigilance Committee, a group w/ the intention of protecting people from re-enslavement #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx
Day 9/28: He worked w/ Stephen Myers, a former enslaved man, who, along w/ his wife is considered to operating the best-run Underground Railroad station in NY. His former property is currently owned by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc. #TwitteRx
Day 9/28: Elkins was an avid inventor designing many improvements for everyday items. A patent was issued to Elkins on February 22 1870 for a Dining, Ironing Table & Quilting Frame Combined (No. 100020) #TwitteRx #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
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Day 9/28: On April 11 1879 he received patent no. 221,222 for a Refrigerating Apparatus that provided a convenient container & method of chilling using the evaporation of water #TwitteRx #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #MedTwitter #BlackTwitteRx
Day 9/28: This patent may have been motivated by his appointment as a medical examiner in the 54th & 55th MA Infantries during the Civil War. The 54th was the 1st officially recognized black military unit in the US. #TwitteRx #BlackinPharmacy #BHM #MedTwitter #BlackTwitteRx
Day 9/28: He also patented an improvement in the chamber-commode, a predecessor to the toilet. It came w/ several amenities, including a bureau, mirror, book-rack, washstand, table, easy chair, and earth-closet or chamber-stool. #TwitteRx #BHM #MedTwitter #BlackTwitteRx
Day 9/28: Today let's thank Dr. Thomas Elkins, a true Renaissance man. Not only was he part of the 1st waves of African-Americans in pharmacy but also b/c of his contributions to sanitation & hygiene, we can enjoy modern luxuries such as refrigerators and toilets #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 10/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth we will learn about James Dallas Burrus (1846–1928), an American educator, pharmacist, and philanthropist from Tennessee. #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmacyBHM #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 10/28: James Dallas Burrus was born into slavery in 1846 in Murfreesboro, TN, the son of William C. J. Burrus and his enslaved common-law wife, Nancy Burrus. Burrus purchased Nancy @ a slave auction in Nashville. The Emancipation Proclamation delivered him into freedom #BHM
Day 10/28: In 1867 Burrus enrolled as part of the 1st 4-person class @Fisk1866 He pursued an academic, classical education studying mathematics. In 1875 he graduated & became 1 of the 1st P.O.C to earn a bachelors from a liberal arts college south of the Mason–Dixon #TwitteRx
Day 10/28: In 1877, Burrus attended graduate school @dartmouth where he enrolled to study math. In 1879, he was awarded the Master of Arts in mathematics. This was the 1st instance of an African American to receive a master of arts degree in the US #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 10/28: In May 1881 Burrus accepted an appointment @Fisk1866 as the 1st professor of mathematics. In 1882, he received an appointment @AlcornStateU in Mississippi as professor of mathematics and superintendent of the college farm #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 10/28: Throughout his life, Burrus was a donor @Fisk1866. Upon his death in 1928, his will stipulated that his estate be left to Fisk. At the time of his death, his estate consisted of 85 houses, and stocks and bonds, valued at over $120,000 #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #BHM
Day 10/28: Several buildings have been named in his honor including Burrus Hall @Fisk1866, Burrus Elementary School in Houston, Texas & Burrus Hall, a female dormitory on the campus of @AlcornStateU #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 11/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth & for #InternationalDayOfWomenInScience lets learn about Dr. Dolores Cooper Shockley, the 1st Black woman to get a PhD in pharmacology in US #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #STEM #BHM #WomenInScience
Day 11/28: Dr. Shockley was born in 1930 in the small rural town of Clarksdale, Mississippi. She grew up in a segregated society & said that her school had very few school supplies and that she learned her science from chemistry sets at home #TwitteRx #STEM #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 11/28: Motivated by the lack of a pharmacy to serve the black community in Clarksdale, Shockley decided to pursue a degree in pharmacology during college w/ the initial idea of starting a pharmacy in her hometown; though she later decided to pursue a research career #TwitteRx
Day 11/28: Shockley attended @XULA1925 and completed a bachelors in pharmacology in 1951. In '55 she pursued a graduate degree @ Purdue University, becoming 1 of the 1st black students to receive a PhD from @LifeAtPurdue #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 11/28: @LifeAtPurdue wasnt welcoming to Shockley in the '50s due to racism. Black students werent allowed to get haircuts @ the student center, prompting Shockley & others to petition the president to revert this #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 11/28: Bc of her race she was denied a room off campus "This was extremely hurtful b/c u never knew when u would be rejected/refused. I went 2 my room & cried several times but my zealous commitment 2 succeed propelled me 2 work harder 2 overcome my lack of prior experience"
Day 11/28: Shockley persisted despite the hate she endured. Not only did she refuse to let herself down, she couldnt disappoint her family. She lived by the quote "Aim for the stars, spread your wings & fly. You never know whats possible until you try” #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 11/28: After finishing her PhD she received @FulbrightAssoc Fellowship & worked at the Pharmacology Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark from 1955 to 1957. When Shockley returned to the US she was offered a job @MeharryMedical as assistant professor #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 11/28: @MeharryMedical Shockley complained that her salary offer was lower than that of all men, her dept chair said that as a married woman she didnt deserve the same salary; despite these challenges she continued to fight for salary equity #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM #STEM
Day 11/28: In 1967 Shockley became an associate professor @MeharryMedical & in 1988 became the chair of the Pharmacology Dept, making her the 1st black woman to chair a Pharmacology Department in the US #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 11/28: As chair Dr. Shockley focused on improving the Pharmacology PhD program @MeharryMedical & started a collaboration w/ @VanderbiltU The PhD Program @ Meharry led by her awarded degrees to the majority of black pharmacologists in the country #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 11/28: Dr. Shockley served on many committees including @NIH @NSF @NRCgov @US_FDA & held office in the American Society of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics @ASPET She also dedicated time to social orgs such as @AARP & @akasorority1908 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM #STEM
Day 11/28: Shockley had 2 main lines of research, one related to neurotoxicity of pollutants & one related to identifying pharmacological agents that interact w/ cocaine w/ the goal of developing therapies for drug abuse #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 11/28: When asked about her biggest accomplishment in science Shockley said “Ive tried to reinstate & strongly promote grad education @MeharryMedical. About half of all minority PhDs in pharmacology have come from our program. I think this will be my greatest contribution".
Day 11/28: Many science orgs created awards in Dr. Shockley's honor. In 2009, The Dolores C. Shockley Lectureship & Mentoring Award was inaugurated @VUmedicine in honor of her collab work. In 2010, @ASPET created a travel award for underrepresented students #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 11/28: In 2017 @ACNPorg presented the Dolores Shockley Minority Mentoring Award to recognize college members who successfully mentored young scientists from underrepresented minorities in the field of Neuropsychopharmacology #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM #STEM
Day 11/28: Dr. Dolores C Shockley died @ 90 on Oct. 10, 2020 in Nashville, but her legacy will always be remembered “We sometimes throw around the word pioneer, but no better word describes Dr. Shockley," said friend @DeanEricBarker, @purduepharmacy dean #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
I want to thank @GenuinelyJo, creator of @STEMelanated for sending me Dr. Shockley's name. I'm learning so much about these great pioneers. Feel free to DM me if you know someone who should be featured in this thread #STEM #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinPharmacy
Day 12/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Alice Augusta Ball, American chemist who developed the first successful treatment for Hansen’s disease (leprosy). #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 12/28: Ball was born July 24 1892 in Seattle. She grew up around the magic of chemistry. Her granddad was a famous photographer & one of the 1st African-Americans to learn daguerreotype, an early photo technique where images are developed on silver plates of glass or copper
Day 12/28: Ball had a middle-class upbringing. Her father, mother, and aunt were also photographers. She likely helped out in the family's photo gallery by preparing the chemicals needed to develop and produce photographs.
Day 12/28: Ball graduated from Seattle High School in 1910 with top grades in science. She went on to study chemistry @UW Univ. of Wash, earning a bachelors in pharmaceutical chemistry in 1912 and a 2nd bachelors in the science of pharmacy in 1914. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 12/28: After graduating Ball was offered many scholarships. She decided to study at the College of Hawaii (now @UHawaiiNews) where her master's thesis involved studying the chemical properties of the Kava plant #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScienceDay #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 12/28: Ball published a 10-page article in @J_A_C_S Journal of the American Chemical Society. Publishing such an article in a respected scientific journal was an uncommon accomplishment for a woman and especially for a Black woman at this time.
Day 12/28: In 1915 Ball became the 1st woman & 1st Black American to graduate with a master's degree from @UHawaiiNews Ball was also the first African American research chemist and instructor in the College of Hawaii's chemistry dept.
Day 12/28: Bc of her research on plants, she began to study chaulmoogra oil and its chemical properties. Chaulmoogra oil had been the best treatment available for leprosy since the 1300s but it wasn't effective, every method of application had problems #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 12/28: Ball developed a technique making the oil injectable & absorbable. It involved isolating esters and chemically modifying them, producing a substance that retained the oils therapeutic properties and was absorbed by the body when injected #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 12/28: Sadly, Ball was unable to publish her findings due to her untimely death. A white chemist, later the president of the Univ., stole her work, published the findings, named it after himself & began producing the injectable chaulmoogra extract #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 12/28: It wasnt until yrs after her death that a colleague attempted to correct this injustice, publishing a paper giving credit to Ball by calling the injectable of the oil the "Ball method." Unfortunately, she still remained forgotten in the scientific record #TwitteRx #BHM
Day 12/28: In the 70s, professors @UHawaiiNews searched archives to find Ball's research. After many decades they were able to bring her efforts & achievements to light, giving her the credit she earned #TwitteRx #BlackTwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 12/28: @UHawaiiNews finally honored Ball in 2000 by dedicating a plaque to her on the school's only chaulmoogra tree. On the same day, former Lt. Gov of Hawaii declared February 29 Alice Ball Day which is now celebrated every 4 yrs #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BHM
Day 12/28: In '07 the Univ Board of Regents honored Ball w/ a Medal of Distinction, the schools highest honor. H/e @UHawaiiNews students have said more should be done to resolve the actions of former Pres. Dean, including proposals to rename Dean Hall after Ball instead #TwitteRx
Day 12/28: The Ball Method is currently on @PrimeVideo This 20 min film shows Ball's fights against racial & gender barriers to find a treatment for leprosy before a 10 yr old patient is exiled into a leper colony. Go watch it now! #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BHM
Missed Day 13 of sharing black pioneers in pharmacy/pharm. sci., but this next 🧵will make up for it. Feb. is both American ❤️ Month & #BlackHistoryMonth & w/ today being #ValentinesDay its only right that I share famous black pioneers in ❤️ health #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) was 1 of Chicago's 1st African American physicians. In 1891 he founded the 1st black-owned & operated non-segregated hospital in the US that also provided education & training for black physicians & nurses #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Williams was one of the 1st physicians to perform successful open❤️surgery. He also founded @NationalMedAssn, a professional org. for black medical practitioners & became a charter member & the 1st African American physician in @AmCollSurgeons #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 14/28: Myra Adele Logan (1908-1977) was an American physician, surgeon & anatomist, and the first woman to perform open❤️surgery. It was reportedly the ninth time the procedure had been performed worldwide
#TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #WomenInScience
#TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #WomenInScience
Day 14/28: Logan's research included studying antibiotics & breast cancer. Her notable contributions are developing more accurate tests to detect density differences in breast tissue & also founding the first physicians group practice in the US #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Edward W Hawthorne- professor, dept of physiology chair & dean of the grad school @HowardU; pioneered large animal research in ❤️ physiology & analyzed ❤️ muscle mechanics; nationally recognized specialist in CVD research & causes of HTN #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: John Beauregard Johnson- pioneer in using angiocardiography & ❤️catheterization as diagnostic; 1st physician 2 focus on the disparate effects of hypertension in African Americans; 1st African American physician to be elected Fellow of @ACCinTouch #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 14/28: Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910-1985): W/out any school past high school rose above poverty & racism & become a ❤️surgery pioneer & teacher of operative techniques to the US best surgeons. He also developed procedures used to treat blue baby syndrome #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 14/28: Elijah Saunders(1935-2015): Saunders literally wrote the book on hypertension in African Americans. He is also recognized for pioneering patient education efforts to raise awareness of high blood pressure in churches and barbershops in MD #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Edward Sawyer Cooper was the 1st African American to receive tenure as full professor @PennMedicine in 1972. He was also the 1st African American President of @American_Heart in 1992 & chaired the writing committee #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Richard Allen Williams founded the Assoc of Black Cardiologists @ABCardio1 w/ focus on promoting prevention & treatment of ❤️ disease in African Americans & other minorities & to achieve health equity through the elimination of disparities in POC #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 14/28: Edith Irby Jones was the 1st African American to enroll in an all-white med school in the South @uamshealth in 1948; 1st African American female resident @bcmhouston Affiliated Hospitals; elected as the 1st female pres of @NationalMedAssn #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Kim A Williams,@cardio10s is the 1st African American pres of @ACCinTouch He is currently Professor of Heart Research and chief of cardiology @RushMedical College in Chicago. He also served as chair of cardiology @waynemedicine in Detroit #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: @DrJMieres is one of the leading experts & patient advocates in the field of ❤️ disease in women. Mieres is associate dean of faculty affairs @NorthwellHealth & also was the 1st female president of @MyASNC American Society of Nuclear Cardiology #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 14/28: Thanks to @Cardiology for sourcing today's info. Read more about famous pioneers in heart health by clicking the link below: Harold on History | Black History Month and Pioneering African American Physicians acc.org/latest-in-card… #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 14/28: Oh and I can't forget @JHS_HeartStudy. Not only have they done so much for cardiovascular disease in African-Americans in Jackson, Mississippi, but bc of their scholars' program, I was able to find my passion for research. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 15/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler - 1st Black woman licensed in Iowa & 1st Black woman from Iowa to serve in the US Foreign Service #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackTwitteRx #PharmEd #BlackPharmacists #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 15/28: Gwendolyn Mary Wilson was born on Dec 8 1907 in Dardanelle, Ark. Her parents sent her to a special prep training high school @TheeRustCollege in Holly Springs, Miss. She graduated w/ honors in 1926. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackTwitteRx #PharmEd #BHM
Day 15/28: After graduating, Wilson attended Des Moines College of Pharmacy, which later became @DrakeCPHS earning her degree in chemistry & pharmaceuticals in 1930, the 1st African-American woman in Iowa to attain a pharmacy degree #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #PharmEd
Day 15/28: Upon registering as a pharmacist in Iowa in 1931, she became the 1st registered Black pharmacist in the state. H/e she was unable to find work as a pharmacist bc of racial & gender discrimination #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #PharmEd #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 15/28: Fowler secured a job in her field 15 yrs later when she was hired by the State of Iowa as a pharmacy clerk. She worked there for 9 yrs & then took a consultant job @ Iowa Dept of Agriculture working as a chemist @IADeptAg #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #PharmEd
Day 15/28: Soon Fowler caught the attention of the Einsenhower administration & was hired as 1 of only 9 women & only woman of color to work in the US Foreign Service. Prior to her appt to Vietnam she served as a chemist @USDA #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #PharmEd #BHM
Day 15/28: In 1955, Fowler was chosen by the US Foreign Operations Administration for an overseas hospital post in Ethiopia. And though she was approved, the assignment was withdrawn bc she was a woman #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackTwitteRx #PharmEd #BlackinPharmacy
Day 15/28: Fowler's position allowed her to travel to Saigon, Vietnam, and Korea serving as a program analyst and training officer. She returned to @IADeptAg after her foreign service. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackTwitteRx #PharmEd #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 15/28: Fowler worked as a staff pharmacist @ a hospital from 1962-'74. During her retirement she served on the Board of Directors @YWCAUSA & was active in @NAACP @AAUW @RedCross @akasorority1908 & IA State Drug Abuse Council #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #PharmEd #BHM
Day 15/28: In '87 Fowler received the Gov's Volunteer Award & was inducted into the IA Womens Hall of Fame. She died Nov 19 1997. Her diary & stories she wrote about the Black community in Des Moines were posthumously donated to @IWArchives @UILibraries
#TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
#TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 16/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth let's learn about Percy Lavon Julian, an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants & one of the great scientists of the 20th century #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 16/28: Percy Lavon Julian was born on Apr 11 1899 in Montgomery, AL. The grandson of slaves, he grew up in the Jim Crow era. Among his childhood memories was finding a lynched man hanged from a tree while walking in the woods near his home #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BHM
Day 16/28: @ a time when access to an education beyond 8th grade was rare for African Americans, Julian's parents steered all of their children toward higher education. Julian attended @DePauwU in Greencastle, IN. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM #BlackinPharmacy #BHM
Day 16/28: Julian faced many struggles @ school including being unable to stay on campus. It took him days to find a place that would serve him a meal. Despite the odds, Julian graduated from @DePauwU in 1920 as a @PhiBetaKappa & valedictorian #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 16/28: After graduating from @DePauwU Julian wanted to obtain his doctorate in chemistry, but learned it would be difficult for an African American to do so. Instead, he obtained a position as a chemistry instructor @Fisk1866 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 16/28: Julian received a fellowship that allowed him to attend @Harvard to obtain his M.S. Worried that white students would resent being taught by an African American, Harvard withdrew Julian's TA, making it impossible for him to complete his PhD there #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 16/28: Julian traveled for several years, teaching at Black colleges, before obtaining his PhD @univienna, University of Vienna in Austria in 1931; making him one of the first African Americans to receive a PhD in chemistry #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM #BHM
Day 16/28: Julian returned to @DePauwU & soon earned intl acclaim by synthesizing physostigmine from the calabar bean to create a drug treatment for glaucoma. Despite his success, DePauw refused to make him a full professor bc of his race #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BHM
Day 16/28: Desiring to leave academia, Julian applied for jobs @ many chemical companies but was repeatedly rejected when they discovered he was Black. Ultimately, he found a position @glidden_paint as the lab director where he invented Aero-Foam #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 16/28: @glidden_paint Julian continued his biomedical work & discovered how to extract sterols from soybean oil & synthesize the hormones progesterone & testosterone. He also synthesized cortisone, which became the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BHM
Day 16/28: Julian left @glidden_paint in 1953 & established Julian Laboratories in '54. He sold the company in '61, becoming one of the first Black millionaires, b4 founding Julian Research Institute, a nonprofit org he ran for the rest of his life #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 16/28: Percy Lavon Julian passed Apr 19 1975 from cancer. His legacy lives in >130 patents, ~20 honorary doctorates & meds used to treat glaucoma, rheumatoid arthritis, & several other diseases he made more affordable & available #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #PharmEd
Day 16/28: After his death, Julian continued to receive honors. In '73 Julian became the 1st Black chemist elected to the Natl Academy of the Sciences @theNASciences. In 1990 he was elected to @InventorsHOF, Natl Inventors Hall of Fame #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 16/28: In 1999 Julian's synthesis of physostigmine was recognized by @AmerChemSociety as “one of the top 25 achievements in the history of American chemistry.” #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM #BlackinPharmacy #BlackinMedicine
Day 16/28: Percy Lavon Julian did so much than a few 140 characters. Watch "Forgotten Genius" a special episode on @PBS about chemist Julian's life and achievements. I learned so much! #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinPharmacy #BlackinSTEM pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vide…
Day 17/28: Today for #BHM lets learn about Samuel Proctor Massie Jr, one of the most distinguished organic chemists in the US who studied a variety of chemicals that led to the development of therapeutic drugs, including phenothiazines #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: Samuel Proctor Massie Jr. was born July 3 1919 in Little Rock, Ark. He started reading at the age of 2 & graduated high school at 13. Too young to go to college, he worked in a grocery store for a year to save for college. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: Massie graduated summa cum laude w/ a B.S in chemistry in 1937 @ age 18 from Arkansas AM&N, now @uapbinfo University of Arkansas @ Pine Bluff. He applied to @UArkansas but was rejected bc of his race. In 1970, they awarded him an honorary PhD #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 17/28: Massie earned a masters in chemistry from @Fisk1844 in 1940, then taught for a year @uapbinfo, Arkansas AM&N, before going on to study for his PhD @IowaStateU #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: Racial segregation @IowaStateU kept Massie from living on campus. He had to travel miles to university, where he wasnt allowed to work in the same lab as white students. He recounts "My lab was in the basement next to the rats. Separate but equal" #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 17/28: When denied draft deferment to continue school, Massie joined the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to develop the atomic bomb, researching the conversion of uranium isotopes into liquid compounds that could be used in the atomic bomb. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 17/28: After the war & getting his PhD, Massie taught @Fisk1866 then @LangstonU & @HowardU. He was the 1st African-American president of @OKAcademyOfSci, the Oklahoma Academy of Science & the 3rd President of North Carolina College at Durham, now @NCCU #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 17/28: In 1954, Massie published a paper, The Chemistry of Phenothiazine, a classic in the field from which anti-psychotics were developed. He had more than 500 requests for copies of the paper, from 50 countries. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: In 1966 Pres Johnson appointed Massie to join faculty @NavalAcademy, its 1st African-American professor. During his tenure, he served on the academy’s equal employment opportunity committee & helped establish a black studies program #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: Dr. Massie's research saved lives. He conducted decades of work pioneering silicon chemistry research & investigated antibacterial agents that led to the development of drugs to treat mental illness, malaria, meningitis, gonorrhea, herpes & cancer #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 17/28: In 1994, the US Dept of @ENERGY created the Dr. Samuel P. Massie Chair of Excellence, a $14.7 million grant to 9 historically black colleges and one for Hispanic students to further environmental research #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 17/28: Massie's achievements in his field led him to receive many awards throughout his career. In 1998, he was voted by the readers of Chemical & Engineering News,@cenmag, as one of the top 75 distinguished contributors to chemistry in history #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED
Day 17/28: Dr. Samuel P. Massie, Jr. passed on April 10, 2005, aged 85. If you would like to know more about his life, you can find it in his self-published autobiography, Catalyst: The Autobiography of an American Chemist. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmED #BlackinSTEM
Day 18/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth let's learn about Marie Maynard Daly, an American biochemist and the first African American woman in the US to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomenInScience
Day 18/28: Marie Daly was born in Corona, Queens Apr 16 1921. She loved to read about scientists and their achievements in her grandfather's extensive library. She really loved The Microbe Hunters, a work that influenced her decision to become a scientist #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 18/28: Daly attended @Hunter_College High School, a laboratory high school for girls. In 1942, she graduated magna cum laude from Queens College,@QC_News, w/ her B.S in chemistry. She was named a Queens College Scholar, an honor awarded to the top 2.5% of the class #TwitteRx
Day 18/28: Daly received fellowships to study @NYUuniversity & Columbia University for her master's and PhD, respectively - becoming the 1st African American to receive a PhD from @Columbia #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomenInScience
Day 18/28: Daly worked @HowardU for 1 yr, then received an @AmericanCancer Society grant for a postdoc @RockefellerUniv. She studied the cell nucleus & how proteins are made in the body. Her research led to the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 18/28: Daly began working @ColumbiaPS studying arterial metabolism & then became professor of biochem & medicine @EinsteinMed @ Yeshiva University,@YUNews. She also was an investigator for @American_Heart studying the causes of ❤️ attacks #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomeninSTEM
Day 18/28: Daly's work showed the relationship b/w high cholesterol & clogged arteries and opened up a new understanding of how foods and diet can affect the health of the heart and the circulatory system #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomeninSTEM #BlackinSTEM
Day 18/28: Daly made important contributions in four areas of research: the chemistry of histones, protein synthesis, the relationships between cholesterol and hypertension, and creatine's uptake by muscle cells #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomenInScience
Day 18/28: In '75, Daly attended a meeting of 30 minority #WomeninSTEM sponsored by @aaas, American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science. This led to a report now archived by @MIT called The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 18/28: Daly retired from @EinsteinMed in '86. Her many honors included induction in @PhiBetaKappa, @NYASciences, @SigmaXiSociety & being tapped as a fellow of @aaas. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomenInScience
Day 18/28: Knowing the importance of her career, Daly rallied efforts to get students of color in med schools & grad programs. In 2016, a new elementary school, P.S.360Q, was renamed The Dr. Marie M. Daly Academy of Excellence" in her honor. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 18/28: Marie M Daly passed away Oct 2003, but her legacy in science & financial gifts will live 4ever. She is a role model for women dreaming of becoming science giants, especially those from historically marginalized groups #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience
Day 19/29: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Mary Munson Runge, the first female, first African American, and the first employee community pharmacist to be elected president of the American @pharmacists Association (APhA) #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #PharmEd
Day 19/29: Mary Runge was born in 1928 in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Her father, John Harvey Lowery, was a pharmacy owner & physician, notable for running the 1st pharmacy in Donaldsonville. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience #BlackTwitteRx
Day 19/29: In 1948, Runge graduated from Xavier University College of Pharmacy, @XULA1925. At the time, she was one of the few women in the profession. After graduating, Runge moved to California and practiced hospital pharmacy for 21 yrs #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 19/29: In '71 Runge became a community pharmacist to help the underserved. She said "The greatest experience was helping poor African American people who couldn’t pay for their medicine. Pharmacy gave me an opportunity to help people who needed help." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 19/29: Runge served in many leadership roles. She was president of the Northern CA Society of Hospital Pharmacists in '63, @CSHP_Official in '67 & California Pharmacists Assoc, @CAPharm in '74. She also served on the CA State Board of Pharmacy #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 19/29: In '79, Runge was sworn in as president of the American @pharmacists Association, ending a 126 yr history of white males serving as APhA's president. She was also the 1st community pharmacist to have been a pres, rather than an owner of a community pharmacy #TwitteRx
Day 19/29: As part of her tenure as APhA president, Runge formally created the APhA Task Force on Women in Pharmacy, as well as APhA's Office of Women's Affairs. Her two terms ended in 1981 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience #BlackTwitteRx
Day 19/29: Runge also served on federal committees: the Institute of Medicine Pharmacy Advisory Panel, the Natl Academy of Sciences,@theNASciences, the Reagan-Bush Health Policy Advisory Committee, @HHSGov & the Prescription Drug Payment Review Commission #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 19/29: Runge received honorary doctorates from @MCPHSBoston College of Pharmacy & @ohionorthern in recognition of her work for the profession. She was named Pharmacist of the Year in '78 by @CAPharm & inducted into their Hall of Fame in '97 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 19/29: Runge retired in 1994 and passed away January 8, 2014. @pharmacists posthumously created a scholarship in her honor and memory. The scholarship is awarded annually to APhA student members. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience #BlackTwitteRx #PharmEd #BHM
Day 20/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Dr. Chauncey Ira Cooper, the first African American to serve as chief administrator of a US college of pharmacy and founding president of the National Pharmacy Association,@NPhAPharmacy #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 20/28: Chauncey Ira Cooper was born May 31 1906 in St. Louis to Lt. Ira Luther & Mattie Salina Horton Cooper. He attended schools in St. Louis, graduating in 1923. He enrolled in Univ. of Minn., @UMN_Pharmacy & graduated with a pharmaceutical chemist degree in 1927 #TwitteRx
Day 20/28: Cooper immediately joined the faculty of @MeharryMedical Dept. of Pharmacy as an instructor. In 1933 he returned to @UMN_Pharmacy, earning a bachelor of science in pharmacy in 1934 and a master of science in 1935 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #PharmEd
Day 20/28: In '35 Cooper taught @HowardU in the Dept of Pharmacy. In '38 he was promoted to assoc. professor & named acting dean; serving as the 1st African American chief admin in a US college of pharmacy. In '41 he was named dean & served until his retirement in '72 #TwitteRx
Day 20/28: The @NationalMedAssn was formed in 1895 to provide an organizational structure for physicians denied admittance to @AmerMedicalAssn. Later dentists & pharmacists formed sections w/in the group, but by 1939 few pharmacists held membership #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd
Day 20/28: In 1946 pharmacist members of NMA began exploring a separate organization. 45 pharmacists met on May 30 1947, @HowardU College of Pharmacy & elected Chauncey Cooper as their president leading the newly independent Natl Pharmaceutical Association @NPhAPharmacy #TwitteRx
Day 20/28: Cooper said @NPhAPharmacy was created “as an educational vehicle to bring the Negroes into the mainstream of American pharmacy, w/ the idea from the beginning that it wouldnt become a permanent org. once Negroes gained total acceptance in organized pharmacy" #TwitteRx
Day 20/28: Cooper was @NPhAPharmacy pres from 47-49 & exec. secretary from 54-72. He planned annual conventions for many yrs, including engaging speakers & gaining financial support. In 1954, he became the founding editor of the Journal of the Natl Pharmaceutical Assoc. #TwitteRx
Day 20/28: Cooper received many honors in recognition of his accomplishments “to unify, encourage and upgrade black pharmacists in the US.” In truth, however, his influence was on the entire profession." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #PharmEd
Day 20/28: To learn more about Chauncey Ira Cooper, read Champion of Minority Pharmacists in @JAPhAJournal #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #PharmEd #BlackTwitteRx
Day 21/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Slayton A Evans Jr, an American chemist whose research led to the understanding of organophosphate compounds & innovations in methods to produce chemical compounds for pharmaceutical drugs #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Slayton Alvin Evans Jr. was born May 17, 1943 in Chicago, IL, but spent his childhood in Meridian, Mississippi. His interest in chemistry began early, when he was given a chemistry set & a small microscope to study plants & insects #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: When Evans was in 9th grade, news of Sputnik inspired him to learn about rockets & attempt to build his own. He was allowed to buy chemicals to make rocket fuel, but had to make his own powdered charcoal. He built 6 rockets, 2 of them achieving liftoff #TwitteRx
Day 21/28: In 1961, Evans received an academic & athletic scholarship for basketball to attend Tougaloo College (my alma mater 😊) in Mississippi. By the end of his first year, Evans had top marks in chemistry in his class. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans got a summer job at the pharmaceutical company Abbott Labs,@AbbottNews in Chicago where he was tasked 1st w/ creating chemical compounds from raw materials, & later w/ identifying the stages of chemical reactions #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans graduated from Tougaloo w/ a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1965. He received his PhD in Chemistry from Case Western, @cwru in 1970. @cwru he researched meds to treat schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasitic flatworms #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans took a postdoc @utarlington in 1970, followed by 2nd postdoc @NotreDame where he studied stereochemistry. Upon the completion of the postdocs, he was invited to be a research instructor @dartmouth College in 1972. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans joined faculty @UNC Chapel Hill as an Asst Professor of Chemistry in 1974 - the 1st African-American chemistry professor @uncchemistry. After 10 yrs @UNC, Evans became a full professor, and in 1992 was honored w/ a Kenan Professor chair #TwitteRx #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans was a leading researcher in the field of organophosphorus chemistry, authoring >85 scientific articles on organosulfur & organophosphorus chemistry. His research led to innovations in methods to produce chemical compounds for pharmaceutical drugs #TwitteRx
Day 21/28: @uncchemistry Evans assembled a research team of undergrads, grad students & @UNCPostdoc from around the world. A Ford Foundation Fellowship,@NASEMFordFellow, allowed him to create ties bw his research team & a team @UT3PaulSabatier in France #TwitteRx #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Evans championed recruiting minority applicants @UNC. On the natl front, he served on committees @AmerChemSociety, @NIH, @NSF, @NIGMS & was chair of the US Natl Committee of @IUPAC, the Intl Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #PharmEd #BlackinSTEM
Day 21/28: Slayton A. Evans Jr. died Mar 24 2001 leaving behind a legacy of excellence in teaching, research, service, & mentoring. The Slayton A. Evans Jr. Memorial Lecture Fund & the Slayton Evans Research Award were both named in his honor post-humously #TwitteRx #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Dr. Louis Tompkins Wright, an American surgeon & civil rights activist who fought for medical desegregation and whose research influenced antibiotic treatment, cancer research, and more #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Louis Wright was born in 1891 in LaGrange, GA. Despite living w/ harsh realities of being Black in the southern US during a turbulent, racially charged time, Wright was also exposed to the presence of achievement within his own family #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Wright's father, Ceah Ketcham Wright was born enslaved, but pursued education, earning his MD as valedictorian @MeharryMedical. After his dad's death, his mom remarried William Fletcher Penn, the 1st African American medical graduate from @YaleMed #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 22/28: Wright graduated from @CAU, Clark Atlanta University in 1911 & received his MD from @harvardmed in 1915, finishing 4th in his class. He completed his postgrad work @HowardU's Freedmen's Hospital in DC before returning to Georgia #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: @harvardmed Wright insisted on equal treatment when a prof. prevented him from delivering white babies. He joined @NAACP after med school & remained involved for the rest of his life, eventually serving as chairman of its natl board of directors #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 22/28: After moving back to GA, Wright joined @ArmyMedicine Corps, serving as a lieutenant during WWI, stationed in France. While there he introduced intradermal vaccination for smallpox & was awarded the Purple Heart after a gas attack #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Wartime set Wright up as a pioneer in abdominal surgery related to trauma. He noticed that the spleen was particularly vulnerable to injury. Thus, learning and adding his own innovations to the technique of removing an injured spleen #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: After WWI, Wright left GA to avoid racial tensions, set up a private practice in Harlem & established ties to @NYCHealthSystem, where he was the 1st African-American on the surgical staff #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Wright spent 30 yrs at Harlem Hospital; heading the team that 1st used Aureomycin on humans, founding the hospital's cancer research center, & becoming an expert on head injuries. He was a Fellow of @AmCollSurgeons & @AmerMedicalAssn #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Wright's work dealt w/ issues that are still brought up by modern black authors, such as @haw95. Dr. Wright challenged the false beliefs that because of their biology, black people are more susceptible to infectious diseases than other races #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 22/28: In his career, Wright published extensively. His research proved influential in antibiotic treatment, cancer research, chemotherapy, treating head injuries & bone fractures. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 22/28: Until his death in 1952, Dr. Wright led the struggle for integration in medicine "What the Negro physician needs is equal opportunity for training and practice–no more, nor less” The Harlem Hospital library was renamed in his honor just before he died #TwitteRx
Day 22/28: Dr. Louis T. Wright was a trailblazer for the rights of African American medical personnel. He inspired an entire generation of surgeons and scientists, including his daughter, Dr. Jane C. Wright, whom I will discuss tomorrow #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth2021 lets learn about Jane Cooke Wright, a pioneering cancer researcher & surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. She also pioneered the use of methotrexate to treat breast cancer & skin cancer #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: Jane Cooke Wright was born in NYC on Nov 20 1919 to Corinne Cooke & Louis T Wright. Wright came from a medical family. Her father, uncle, grandfather & step-grandfather were all physicians. She & her sister both followed in their footsteps. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: Wright attended @smithcollege, originally wanting to pursue art. After college, she earned a full scholarship to @nymedcollege & graduated as a part of an accelerated 3 yr program at the top of her class in 1945 w/ the honors award. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: Wright did residencies @BellevueHosp & was chief resident @NYCHealthSystem. In 1949 she joined her father in research @ the Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Center, which he had founded, succeeding him as director when he died in 1952. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: In 1955, Wright worked @nyuniversity Bellevue Medical Center as an Associate Professor of Surgical Research and Director of Cancer Research. During this time, she & her dad became interested in chemotherapy & making it more accessible to everyone #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: Wright & dad were the 1st to use folic acid antagonists as cancer treatments. These agents were an important discovery & highly potent against many solid tumors. Methotrexate is still a mainstay in chemo and has been a basis for all modern chemo #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: Wright pioneered combinatorial work in chemo to increase efficacy & minimize side effects. She also identified treatments for both breast & skin cancer, developing a protocol that increased skin cancer patient lifespans 10 yrs #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomeninScience
Day 23/28: Wright published >100 papers on cancer chemotherapeutics & served on the editorial board of the Journal of @NationalMedAssn She also collaborated w/ cell biologist & physiologist Jewel Plummer Cobb, another noted African American woman scientist #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: Wright was the only woman among 7 physicians who founded @ASCO, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and was the 1st woman elected president of the NY @AmericanCancer Society. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience
Day 23/28: Wright also served as associate dean & head of the Cancer Chemo Dept @nymedcollege, the highest-ranked African American physician @ a prominent med school & the 1st African American woman to be named assoc dean of a med school #TwitteRx #BlackinSTEM #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: President Johnson appointed Wright to the National Cancer Advisory Board (@PresCancerPanel), serving from 1966-1970, and the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke from 1964–65 #OncoPharm #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM #WomeninScience
Day 23/28: Wright led teams of oncologists to China & the Soviet Union & countries in Africa & Europe. She worked in Ghana in 1957 & Kenya in '61, treating cancer patients. From 73-84 she served as VP of the African Research & Medical Foundation, @AMREFUSA #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 23/28: In describing her pioneering research in chemotherapy, Wright shared "There's lots of fun in exploring the unknown. There's no greater thrill than in having an experiment turn out in such a way that you make a positive contribution." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: Wright retired in '85 & was appointed emerita professor @nymedcollege in '87. She died Feb 19 2013 at 93. She is remembered as a talented researcher, beloved sister, wife, mother, & a beautiful, kind, & loving human being #OncoPharm #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 23/28: Dr. Jane C Wright was a true pioneer who changed the landscape of oncology. She represents outstanding achievement as a professional & humanitarian. Her legacy will continue to inspire subsequent generations #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomeninScience #BlackinSTEM #OncoPharm
Day 24/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Kenneth Carleton Frazier, an American business executive who is the first African American man to lead a major pharmaceutical company and the first African-American to lead a Fortune 500 company. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: Kenneth C. Frazier was born Dec 17 1954 in North Philadelphia. Growing up he said Thurgood Marshall was one of his heroes. He attended Julia R. Masterman School & Northeast High School. After graduating at 16, he entered @penn_state University #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: After earning his B.A. @penn_state, Frazier enrolled @Harvard_Law, graduating in '78 w/ a J.D. He began his law career @FaegreDrinker Biddle & Reath. During his law career, he also took 4 summer sabbaticals to teach trial advocacy in South Africa #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: As a lawyer at Drinker Biddle, one of Frazier's clients was @Merck & Co., the 2nd-largest drug company in the US. In 1992, he joined Merck's public affairs division as general counsel. He was named senior general counsel in 1999 #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: As general counsel, Frazier was credited w/ overseeing the company's defense against claims that the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx had caused heart attacks and strokes. He said the case was "the most significant challenge [he'd] ever faced." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: In 2006, Frazier was promoted to executive vice president in addition to his role as general counsel. He led the company's largest group, Human Health, from 2007 until he was named president of @Merck in April 2010. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: On January 1, 2011, Frazier became CEO and a member of the company's board of directors; becoming the first African-American to lead a major pharmaceutical company and the first African-American to lead a Fortune 500 company. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: As CEO, Frazier has directed the company to take financial risks in developing new treatments. In 2013, he prioritized research funding over meeting the year's earnings target. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: Frazier has also placed special emphasis on improving treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Frazier's father died from Alzheimer's. He has said he is also motivated at @Merck by a desire to improve the lives of people in developing countries. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: "A lot of what @Merck does is about another form of justice. It's a higher form of ensuring that every life is treated as though it's worthy of dignity, respect, & high worth. We exist to save & improve human lives, to reduce suffering, to reduce disease..." #TwitteRx
Day 24/28: Frazier resigned from DJT's American Manufacturing Council after the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally; objecting DJT statement that "many sides" were responsible. "Our leaders must honor our fundamental views by clearly rejecting hatred, bigotry & group supremacy."
Day 24/28: On June 1 2020 Frazier gave an interview addressing racial tensions & violence stemming from the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man murdered by Minneapolis police. In the interview, he mentioned that it could have been him. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: In Aug 2020, Frazier & his wife, Andréa Frazier donated $5 million to Jefferson Health,@TJUHospital, to work with @TempleUniv on a new stroke initiative targeting the African American communities. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 24/28: Frazier plans to retire from @Merck at the end of June. He will be remembered as the outspoken CEO who took a stand against racial injustice & called for business leaders to be a “unifying force” that can help solve many of the racial inequalities in America. #TwitteRx
Day 25/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about Dr. Kizzmekia "@KizzyPhD" Shanta Corbett, an American viral immunologist and key scientist behind the COVID-19 vaccine. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackinSTEM
Day 25/28: @KizzyPhD was born in Hurdle Mills, NC & grew up in Hillsborough, NC where she had a large family of step-siblings & foster siblings. Her teacher recalls recognizing her talent at an early age & encouraged her mom to place her in advanced classes. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 25/28: Corbett knew she wanted a science career & spent her summers working in research labs, one of which was @uncchemistry Kenan Labs. In '05, she interned @stonybrooku where she studied Y. pseudotuberculosis. From 06-07, she worked as a lab tech @MarylandNursing #TwitteRx
Day 25/28: In 2008, @KizzyPhD received a BS in biological sciences & sociology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County,@UMBC. In 2014, Corbett received a PhD in microbiology & immunology from @UNC #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackinSTEM
Day 25/28: In 2014, Corbett became a research fellow & viral immunologist @NIH. Her research uncovered mechanisms of viral pathogenesis & host immunity. @KizzyPhD specifically focused on the development of novel vaccines for coronaviridae #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience
Day 25/28: Corbett began working on a vaccine at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing that the virus was similar to SARS, @KizzyPhD used her previous knowledge of optimal coronavirus S proteins to tackle the novel coronavirus #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 25/28: Corbett works to rebuild trust w/ vaccine hesitant populations such as the Black community. Her race has been a focus of govt outreach; after a study by @NAACP & others revealed that only 14% of Black Americans believe a COVID-19 vaccine is safe #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 25/28: Today we honor Dr. Corbett for her efforts w/ the COVID vaccine, but I know she is just getting started. She will not be a hidden figure. Follow @KizzyPhD to watch history in the making. A true inspiration to all! #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #WomenInScience #BlackinSTEM
Day 26/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth lets learn about William Byron Rumford, an American pharmacist and politician. He was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: William Rumford was born Feb 2 1908 in Courtland, Ariz. His mom's side were some of the 1st American settlers of AZ. When Whites established separate schools, she relocated to LA, saying "she was not going to bring those kids up in a segregated environment." #TwitteRx
Day 26/28: After graduating from Carver High School in 1926, Rumford enrolled @SacCityCollege in Sacramento. He was accepted to the school of pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, @UCSF @ucsfpharmacy, and graduated in 1931. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: Rumford took the California Board of Pharmacy exam, passing the written portion 2x, but failing the oral portion 2x, stating the board was "asking silly questions to get rid of blacks. I flunked the oral after they asked me about Joe Louis." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: After failing a 3rd time, Rumford visited a board member who appealed the board's decision to fail Rumford on the grounds that he was asked irrelevant questions. Eventually, he passed and was granted state certification. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: Rumford was the 1st African American hired @ Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was asst. pharmacist. He worked under "a very prejudiced man" who suspected he wanted to "make trouble" & was reluctant to raise his salary. He soon left due to the low pay. #TwitteRx
Day 26/28: After leaving the hospital, Rumford was appointed VD investigator for the state. For about a year, he worked primarily at army bases, where his main responsibility was apprehending carriers of STDs. When not on base, he worked in city clinics. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: In 1942, while still working for the state, Rumford purchased a pharmacy in Berkeley and named it Rumford's Pharmacy. It became a key hub for African-Americans involved in civic matters, serving as informal headquarters for many black politicians. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: In 1942, Rumford was appointed to the Emergency Housing Committee, which sought to find housing for wartime laborers. As a member, he was able to push for more integrated housing. In 1944, he was appointed to the Rent Control Board. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: In 1948, Rumford ran for a seat in the Assembly. He won the primary, but lost the election. In disbelief, Rumford took the case to court, which ruled that he had been the rightful winner of the election; beginning his term in January 1949. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: In his 1st yr in the state assembly, Rumford succeeded in passing legislation barring discrimination in the state National Guard. When it reached the state senate, its chances of passing were slim. But Rumford personally lobbied senators & the bill passed. #TwitteRx
Day 26/28: Rumford's most important achievement was passing the Fair Employment Practices Act, which outlawed employment discrimination. He also addressed issues of discrimination in govt employment, including the Highway Patrol & the State Department of Public Health. #TwitteRx
Day 26/28: Rumford became chair of the Public Health Committee & passed the 1st air pollution control act. He also passed some of the 1st radiation control acts in the US. In '59, he investigated the health effects of DDT, & discovered pesticides in milk supplies. #TwitteRx
Day 26/28: Rumford continued in govt; running for senate & serving for 5 yrs as Assistant Director for Consumer Protection and State-Federal Relations of the Federal Trade Commission. In 1976, he returned to private life and his pharmacy, retiring in 1981. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 26/28: William Rumford passed June 12 1986. After his death, his family turned his pharmacy into a non-profit community health clinic. A stretch of California State Route 24, a post office, and an affordable apartment complex are among landmarks named in his honor. #TwitteRx
Day 27/28: Today for #BlackHistoryMonth let's learn about Lloyd Noel Ferguson, an American chemist who studied the structure of carbon-based molecules, the relationship between structure and biological activity, and cancer chemotherapy #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 27/28: Lloyd Noel Ferguson was born on February 9, 1918. As a child in Oakland, California, Ferguson had a backyard laboratory in which he developed a moth repellent, a silverware cleanser, and a lemonade powder. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 27/28: After graduating from Oakland Technical High School at the age of 16, Ferguson did his undergraduate studies @UCBerkeley and received a Ph.D. from the same university in 1943, the first African American to earn a chemistry PhD there. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 27/28: After his PhD, Ferguson took a faculty position @ North Carolina A&T, @ncatsuaggies, then later @HowardU, where he became the chair of his department and founded a doctoral program there, the 1st in chemistry at any black college. #BlackinSTEM #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 27/28: Ferguson joined @CalStateLA in 1965 as a professor in the chem & biochem dept., and was dept chair from '68-'71. He also led the university’s Minority Biomedical Research Support program, which continues to help underrepresented science students. #TwitteRx #BlackinSTEM
Day 27/28: Ferguson authored 7 chemistry textbooks & >50 research papers. His research ranged widely but largely centered around organic chem and chemoreceptors. He developed a large body of knowledge around taste as it relates to the structure of organic compounds. #TwitteRx
Day 27/28: Ferguson also published on carcinogens and chemotherapy, helping to summarize many of the mechanisms for chemical carcinogenesis and methods for determining structure-function relationships in anticancer agents. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 27/28: In '72, Ferguson helped found the Natl. Org. for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chem Engineers. @NOBCChE gives its Lloyd N Ferguson Young Scientist Award to young scientists w/ "technical excellence & documented contributions to their field" #TwitteRx
Day 27/28: As chair of @AmerChemSociety Division of Chem. Educ., Ferguson helped form Project SEED, a program that connects economically disadvantaged students to research & internship opportunities in chem @ academic institutions, govt labs, and companies. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 27/28: Ferguson retired in 1986 and passed on Nov 30, 2011. His grandson @MiguelAtwdFrgsn says he was "A truly great man, who overcame incredible adversity all around him during the depression in the US and went on to be a pioneer in Chemistry." #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 27/28: To learn more about Dr. Lloyd Noel Ferguson and his passionate advocacy for increased black representation in chemistry, please watch him sharing his life story with @TheHstryMakers thehistorymakers.org/biography/lloy… #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: On the last day of #BlackHistoryMonth let's learn about the historically black colleges and universities that educated many of our African American pharmacy/pharm.sci. pioneers when other schools denied them because of their race. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: 8 HBCU pharmacy schools opened after the Civil War: Meharry Pharmaceutical College; Sean Leonard School of Pharmacy in Raleigh, NC; University of West Tennessee College of Pharmacy; New Orleans University College of Pharmacy of the Flint Medical College ... #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: ... Louisville National Medical College Pharmacy Department; Washington College of Pharmacy in DC. By 1937, 6 of those schools had closed due to the Flexner Report & only @howard_pharmacy & Xavier College of Pharmacy, @XULA1925 remained. Today, we have ~9. #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: @HowardU was founded in 1867. Soon after, Pharmacy instruction began in the Dept. of Med. in 1868. The initial program, held in the evening, offered students a “knowledge of the art and science of pharmacy”. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: In 1870, the 1st graduate, James Thomas Wormley, received the Doctor of Pharmacy degree & the pharm. program was separated from the med. program. @howard_pharmacy has been among the leaders in the preparation of individuals for rewarding careers in pharmacy. #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: Xavier was established in 1927 to educate Blacks & other minorities to become highly trained professionals & leaders in pharmacy. In 2009, XULA ranked among the Top 20 colleges of pharmacy when it came to research funding by the National Institutes of Health. #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: In 1947, Texas State University for Negroes (@TexasSouthern) opened to serve African Americans w/ teaching pharmacy & other professional courses. Today, @TexasSouthern offers bachelor's, master's & doctoral degrees in the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: The 2016 pharmacy graduates @TexasSouthern had a 90% 1st-attempt pass rate on the NAPLEX; above the natl avg. (85%), 3rd highest in Texas, and highest among HBCUs. TSU is 1 of only 2 public HBCUs in the US w/ an accredited and comprehensive pharmacy program. #TwitteRx
Day 28/28: In 1887, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University was founded. In 1951, the university started @FAMUPharmacy. It is now one of the largest colleges of pharmacy in the country. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: @FAMUPharmacy has produced over 20% of the nation's African-American pharmacists and over 60% of African-American PhDs in pharmaceutical sciences since 1990. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: @_HamptonU was founded in 1868 w/ the School of Pharmacy officially being founded in 1997. @hamptonupharm prepares its students for the world of pharmacy, gives back to their communities, and helps those in need. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore opened its doors Sept. 13, 1886, @UMESNews. The School of Pharmacy and Health Professions began in 2008. @UMESPharmacy has the only 3-yr Doctor of Pharmacy program in the state of MD.#TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: @UMESPharmacy Class of 2018 had the highest 1st-time pass rate in MD, achieving an impressive 96.23% 1st-time pass rate among pharmacy graduates taking the 2018 NAPLEX. (89.46% 1st-time pass rate national average) #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: @ChicagoState University, though not an official HBCU, is a predominately black institution that opened its doors Sept 2, 1867 w/ @CSUPharmacy being founded in 2007. @CSUPharmacy is nationally ranked top 10 for graduating minority students. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
Day 28/28: @MeharryMedical College was founded just 11 yrs after the Civil War w/ the mission of educating African Americans to serve the underserved. Today, it is the nation’s largest private, historically black academic health sciences center. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
Day 28/28: Historically, @MeharryMedical awarded degrees to the majority of black pharmacologists in the country. In 2013, @MeharryMedical was the top 3 producer of African-American PhDs in the biomedical sciences. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
I want to thank everyone who followed along w/ me as I researched Black pioneers in pharmacy/pharm. sci. This research has given me a greater sense of self & has motivated me more than you can imagine. I'm forever thankful for those who paved the way for me. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter
I want to remind each of you that Black History is being made every day & should not only be discussed in February. Black History is American history and it should be celebrated year-round. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
This thread only touched the surface of the contributions African Americans have made in pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences. I challenge each of you to continue learning about those who have been hidden for way too long. #TwitteRx #MedTwitter #BlackinSTEM
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