The medical field is a niche of science that is ever-changing. Every day, new advances are made that push towards a new cure, a new preventive measure, a new drug, etc. Behind the scenes of these advances are the hands of many women who have devoted much of their lives pushing to revolutionize the medical industry.
In particular, there are three women who have recently made significant strides towards changing the face of medicine.
Elizabeth Holmes
According to Business Insider, Holmes is the youngest self-made female billionaire in the United States. Dropping out of Stanford during her sophomore year of college, Holmes dedicated herself to creating Theranos, a blood-testing company. Her aim is to use a single prick of blood as opposed to multiple vials (which is currently the standard) to diagnose diseases and characterize blood. Her company has been funded extensively (over $400 million) and is on its way to creating a cheap and effective blood test.
Jennifer Doudna
As the founder of CRISPR, a genetic engineering method, Doudna has sparked much controversy with her invention. The CRISPR allows one to genetically alter DNA with relative ease, which brings up potential applications such as editing mutations, experimenting with genetic therapies, and so on. The new technology is often referred to as something that will likely “transform the field of biology.” It uses an enzyme known as Cas9 to cut DNA at the desired location.
Nina Tandon
Founder and CEO of EpiBone, Tandon is transforming the use of stem cells. Her findings include using using a patient’s stem cells to grow human bone that can in turn be used to fix the bone defect the patient is faced with. This can tremendously change the way surgeries are performed and potentially cease the existence of using animal bones/cartilage to fix injuries. She was featured as of one of Business Insider’s “40 under 40” in 2015.
All three of these women have significantly contributed towards progressing medicine to the next frontier. The next decade will bring more progress and women will continue to charge forward and bring change.