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Elion was a true humanitarian as well as an
outstanding scientist. Although she respected those
who did science for science's own sake, she always
kept in mind the patients whose diseases she aimed
to cure and focused on the practical applications
of her research. The personal tragedies she had
experienced and the contact she had with patients
kept the goal of curing people squarely in front of
her.
Far more than she did the Nobel Prize, Elion
treasured the knowledge that her work had directly
benefited the lives of countless individuals.
"[Y]ou can't beat the feeling that you
get from those children," she said.
"[W]hen the Nobel Prize came in,
everybody said, 'How does it feel to get the Nobel
Prize?' And I said, 'It's very nice but that's not
what it's all about.' I'm not belittling the prize.
The prize has done a lot for me, but if it hadn't
happened, it wouldn't have made that much
difference.... When you meet someone who has lived
for twenty-five years with a kidney graft, there's
your reward."
Elion had a great love of life and a warm
personality that infected everyone around her.
Those who knew her unanimously emphasize—even
more than her scientific achievements—how much
she cared about people, from her family and
friends, to those who took her drugs, to the
nameless masses who might someday benefit from her
research. When it was discovered that one of her
drugs was an effective treatment for Leshmaniasis
disease, a serious problem in South America, she
pushed hard for Burroughs Wellcome to follow up on
the matter, regardless of the money involved. As a
former colleague remarked, "She has a real
social conscience.... In fifty years, Trudy Elion
will have done more cumulatively for the human
condition than Mother Theresa."
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