| Timeline |
| 1918 | Gertrude Belle Elion born in New York City to Bertha (Cohen) and Robert Elion, on January 23 |
| 1933 | Grandfather dies painfully of stomach cancer, inspiring Elion to pursue a career in science |
| 1937 | Graduates summa cum laude from Hunter College, in New York
Applies to 15 graduate schools but, because of gender discrimination, is turned down by all for graduate assistantships |
| 1938 | Unable to find research job, volunteers in chemistry lab |
| 1941 | Receives M.S. in Chemistry from New York University
Fiancé Leonard Canter dies of a bacterial infection, a few years before penicillin becomes readily available |
| 1942 | Shortage of male scientists due to World War II enables Elion to find job as food chemistry analyst |
| 1944 | Begins working for George Hitchings at Burroughs Wellcome Co., a pharmaceutical company |
| 1950 | Synthesizes 6-Mercaptopurine (Purinethol), which cures childhood leukemia when used with later-developed medicines |
| 1959 | Opens field of organ transplantation when the immunosuppressant Imuran, which she developed, is used to transplant a foreign kidney into Lollipop, a German shepherd |
| 1967 | Becomes first woman to lead a major research group at Burroughs Wellcome when named Head of Experimental Therapy |
| 1969 | Receives honorary doctorate from George Washington University, the first of 25 honorary degrees |
| 1970 | Moves to North Carolina when Burroughs Wellcome relocates |
| 1970s | Elion's lab develops acyclovir (Zovirax), the first medicine to treat viral infections |
| 1983 | Retires from Burroughs Wellcome but remains as Emerita Scientist and consultant |
| 1984 | Elion's lab uses her methodology to develop AZT, until 1991 the only drug licensed in the United States to treat AIDS |
| 1988 | Shares Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George Hitchings, for development of rational method for drug design and discoveries in the principles of chemotherapy |
| 1990 | Elected to the National Academy of Sciences |
| 1991 | Receives the National Medal of Science, the United States' highest scientific honor
Becomes first woman inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame |
| 1999 | Dies on February 21, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
