Dora Richardson

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Dora Nellie Richardson (1919-1998) was an organic chemist who first synthesised Tamoxifen in England in 1962. [1] She was born on 1 June 1919 and died in September 1998 in England. [2]

Richardson decided to become a chemist after seeing people working in hospital laboratories while visiting her grandmother in hospital in London. She earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from University College London in 1941, and a PhD in 1953. [1] Her dissertation in organic chemistry was on the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. [3]

Richardson began her career at Imperial Chemical Industries in 1943, working there until her retirement. [1] In the early 1960s, she worked on synthesising compounds, and separated the geometric isomers of a triphenylethylene, which developed the basis for Tamoxifen. [4] [5] In 1970, she and Arthur Walpole were investigating potential uses of Tamoxifen, and they discovered that it was effective in reducing estrogen receptor positive tumors. [6] In a 1970 clinical trial, tamoxifen, which went by the name Nolvadex, was given to 60 breast cancer patients. This anti-estrogen drug had significantly shrunk the tumors while causing minimal side effects. [6] In 1988, she published an article on the history of the development of Tamoxifen. [7]

Richardson was named on several patents. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Quirke, Viviane (2 July 2020). "Imperial Chemical Industries and Craig Jordan, "the First Tamoxifen Consultant," 1960s–1990s". Ambix . 67 (3): 289–307. doi: 10.1080/00026980.2020.1794675 . PMID   32706307.
  2. ↑ "Vol 0131E". England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007 . p. E13A. Retrieved 5 November 2024– via FamilySearch.
  3. ↑ Hafner, Katie; Thompson, Marcy (24 October 2024). "The Forgotten Developer of Tamoxifen, a Lifesaving Breast Cancer Therapy". Scientific American . Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Jordan, VC (January 2021). "50th anniversary of the first clinical trial with ICI 46,474 (tamoxifen): then what happened?". Endocrine-Related Cancer . 28 (1): R11–R30. doi:10.1530/ERC-20-0335. PMC   7780369 . PMID   33151906.
  5. ↑ Bedford, G.R.; Richardson, D.N. (1966). "Preparation and Identification of cis and trans Isomers of a Substituted Triarylethylene". Nature . 212 (5063): 733-734. doi:10.1038/212733b0 . Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  6. 1 2 Initiative, Katie Hafner, Marcy Thompson, The Lost Women of Science. "To Develop Tamoxifen, Dora Richardson Took Her Research Underground". Scientific American. Retrieved 2024-12-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Richardson, DN (July 1988). "The history of Nolvadex". Drug Design and Delivery. 3 (1): 1–14. PMID   3076390.
  8. ↑ "Dora N. Richardson Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". Justia . Retrieved 5 November 2024.
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