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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."

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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."