Rachel Fuller Brown

Rachel Fuller Brown (1898-1980), American biochemist who, with American microbiologist Elizabeth Hazen, discovered the fungicide nystatin. Nystatin was the first antibiotic that could be used safely and effectively in humans to treat fungal infections, such as ringworm and athlete's foot, as well as more serious diseases. Its counterpart is penicillin, discovered in 1928 by British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming and used to treat diseases caused by bacteria. Later in their careers, Brown and Hazen also shared in the discovery of two other antibiotics, phalamycin and capacidin.

Brown was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. She spent her childhood in Webster Groves, Missouri, and then, as a teenager, returned to Springfield, where she graduated from high school and then attended Mount Holyoke College in nearby South Hadley. She majored in history and chemistry, graduating in 1920 with a B.A. degree. She traveled to Chicago, Illinois, where she entered the University of Chicago. In 1921 she received an M.A. degree in organic chemistry and, in 1933, a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry and bacteriology. Between degrees, she taught chemistry and physics at the Francis Shimer School outside of Chicago.

After completing her doctoral work, Brown's first research job was as an assistant chemist in the Division of Laboratories and Research at the New York State Department of Health. Her hard work resulted in promotions to positions of increasingly greater responsibility: assistant biochemist, senior biochemist, associate biochemist, and research scientist. In all, she spent 42 years at the Department of Health. At the beginning of her career, Brown studied pneumococcus, the bacterium that causes pneumonia. A pneumonia vaccine she helped develop during this period continues to be used today. In 1948 she teamed up with Hazen, a leading authority on fungi and also an employee of the New York State Department of Health. Their goal was to isolate an antifungal antibiotic from soil samples and then test this substance for safety in humans. Researchers already knew that microorganisms called actinomycetes lived in soil and that these organisms produced antibiotics. However, not all antibiotics can be used in humans. Hazen obtained a soil sample from a friend's dairy farm in Virginia and identified a microorganism now known as Streptomyces norsei. Brown analyzed the organism and discovered that it produced two antifungal substances. One was too toxic for use in humans; the other Brown and Hazen purified into the antibiotic nystatin, named for the New York State Department of Health Laboratories.

In 1950 Brown and Hazen presented their findings to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The two women then patented nystatin. E. R. Squibb and Sons received the license for the patent and began marketing the new antibiotic under the name Mycostatin. It is prescribed for vaginal yeast infections and other fungal diseases. Scientists in other fields also use it to treat Dutch elm disease, a fatal fungus that attacks elm trees; to fight mold in the livestock and food industries; and to kill mildew on fine artwork. Brown and Hazen refused to accept the money generated from nystatin's royalties; instead, they used it to establish the Brown-Hazen Fund for scientific research.