The president was beaming. The woman beside him — a brunette wearing proper gloves and hat — also smiled, shyly. She was tall, her dark hair lightly streaked with gray. This was the hero who saved the United States from the tragedy of thalidomide, a drug often prescribed to pregnant women that could result in serious birth defects such as short, flipper-like arms and legs. The year was 1962, and in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Frances Oldham Kelsey had just received the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service from John F. Kennedy.
But Kelsey’s body of work goes well beyond thalidomide. Scientists still benefit from changes she and her colleagues set in motion. Countries communicate more efficiently about common medical problems thanks to her, and researchers know that drugs — and viruses — that appear to have little or no side-effects on pregnant women can be devastating to their developing babies. Her importance in medical history can’t be overstated.
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