Throughout history, there has always been a person to be the first to accomplish a feat that no one else believed possible. Among those we remember is Elizabeth Lee Hazen, who created the world’s first effective anti fungal antibiotic, nystatin. 

Elizabeth Lee Hazen was born in Rich, Coahoma County, MS on August 24, 1885. Hazen was orphaned at the age three and raised by relatives. Upon completion of high school, she received private tutoring sessions in Memphis. She earned a B.S. at MUW. She taught school for six years at Central High School in Jackson, MS. During this period, she attended summer sessions at the University of Tennessee and the University of Virginia. During World War I, she served as an Army diagnostic technician and gained a lot of practical experience. In 1905 she enrolled at Columbia University where she won an advanced degree in bacteriology, becoming one of the first women doctoral candidates.

In 1950, Elizabeth Lee Hazen along with Rachel Fuller Brown, created the world’s first useful anti-fungal antibiotic. The drug they developed, named ‘nystatin’ for the New York Department of Health, was first introduced in practical form in 1954 following FDA approval. Not only did it cure many disfiguring and disabling fungal infections of the mouth, skin, throat, and intestinal tract, but it could be combined with antibacterial drugs to balance their effects.

In 1955, she shared with Rachel Brown the Squibb Award in Chemotherapy. In 1968, she received a Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Department of Health. In May of 1975, a month before her death, Hazen and Brown were the first women to receive the Chemical Pioneer Award of the American Institute of Chemists.

 Elizabeth Lee Hazen died on June 24, 1975.