Gerty Theresa Cori was a pioneering biochemist who made fundamental contributions to metabolic science despite significant gender barriers in early 20th century academia. Born in Prague in 1896 when it was part of Austria-Hungary, she earned her medical degree from the German University of Prague in 1920 before marrying her research partner Carl Cori. The couple emigrated to the United States in 1922, initially working at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo where they published numerous joint papers, with Gerty often listed first when she led specific research. Facing persistent institutional discrimination against women scientists, she accepted significantly lower positions than her husband despite their equal scientific partnership, eventually moving to Washington University in St. Louis in 1931 where both continued their groundbreaking metabolic research.
The Coris' most celebrated scientific achievement was the elucidation of the metabolic pathway known as the Cori cycle which they first described in 1929. This revolutionary work explained the circular process by which glycogen in muscles converts to glucose during energy expenditure, producing lactic acid that the liver then transforms back into glycogen for storage. Their research advanced significantly with the 1938 identification of the enzyme phosphorylase which catalyzes glycogen breakdown into glucose 1 phosphate, later termed the Cori ester, and their subsequent demonstration of glycogen synthesis in vitro. These discoveries provided the first comprehensive understanding of carbohydrate metabolism, establishing biochemical principles that became essential for developing effective diabetes treatments and influencing generations of metabolic research.
Despite institutional barriers that delayed her professional recognition, Gerty Cori achieved landmark distinctions including becoming the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science and the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947. Her appointment as full professor of biochemistry at Washington University in St. Louis in 1947 coincided with this historic Nobel recognition, cementing her status as a trailblazer for women in STEM. Beyond the Nobel Prize, she was elected as the fourth woman to the National Academy of Sciences and appointed by President Truman to the National Science Foundation board. Her meticulous experimental approach and collaborative partnership with her husband established enduring biochemical frameworks that continue to inform modern understanding of human energy metabolism and inspire scientific excellence worldwide.
