"I am a Scientist because I Love Investigation"

Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology, 1977

Rosalyn Yalow is a medical investigator at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Bronx, New York, and a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her research led to the development of the radioimmunoassay test. This test measures many different kinds of biologic substances in blood. Detection of some of these substances can lead to early diagnosis of disease.

Dr. Rosalyn S. Yalow was a headstrong young girl who enjoyed the challenges of math and chemistry. "Perhaps the earliest memories I have are of being a stubborn, determined child. Through the years my mother has told me that it was fortunate that I chose to do acceptable things, for if I had chosen otherwise no one could have deflected me from my path."

"By the seventh grade I was committed to mathematics. A great high school teacher excited my interest in chemistry, but when I went to Hunter College, my interest was diverted to physics."

"In the late 1930's, physics, and in particular nuclear physics, was the most exciting field in the world. I was excited about achieving a career in physics."

Dr. Yalow's family however, had other plans for her since at the time, young women didn't traditionally take up careers in science.

"My family, being more practical, thought the most desirable position for me would be as an elementary school teacher. Furthermore, it seemed most unlikely that good graduate schools would accept and offer financial support for a woman in physics. However, my physics professor encouraged me and I persisted."

Dr. Yalow says that Eve Curie's biography of her mother, Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, had a tremendous influence on her desire to be a scientist. The biography is entitled Madame Curie, My Mother, and she advises all students who may have scientific aspirations to read it.

"I am a scientist because I love investigation. Even after the Nobel Prize, the biggest thrill is to go to my laboratory and hope that day I will know something that nobody ever knew before. There are very few days when it happens, but the dream is still there. That's what it means to be a scientist."

Adapted from Curiosity is the Key to Discovery: The Story of How Nobel Laureates Entered the World of Science, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1992

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