Her name is well known in the medical world thanks to her great achievements as the Nobel Prize winner in 2009 thanks to being one of the three discoverers of telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
She is part of the Top 5 of immigrants that we have been presenting to you, a group of immigrants that have achieved with their work the saving of many lives and that grew professionally in the United States.
Elizabeth Blackburn was born in Australia, but her career and professional success came later, when she arrived to the United States.
Elizabeth took the road of medicine and she studied Biochemistry at the University of Melbourne.
After this, in favor of continuing to grow as a professional, she went to the United States, where in 1975 she received her doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Cambridge.
It was at this stage when she knew about love; Elizabeth fell in love and later married the American molecular biologist John Sedat.
Once she got her Ph.D., Elizabeth was eager to investigate and studying telomeres in Yale, later moving onto the University of California, Berkeley.
Nine years later, in 1984, Elizabeth made the discovery of her life. Along Carol Greider, she discovered the enzyme telomerase, and a year later, isolated it.
It was at that moment when they began to create artificial telomeres in order to study cell division so they would be able to control it.
Just two years later, Elizabeth was named director of the laboratory, making her a world leader in manipulating the activity of telomerase in cells. An invaluable achievement that was added to a successful career.
In 2001, Elizabeth Blackburn joined the Bioethics Commission of the US, but left three years later disagreeing with the restrictions that the administration of George W. Bush imposed on cell research.
By that time, after 20 years of marriage, Elizabeth opted for an American citizenship which was later granted.
Elizabeth worked together during this time with John Gall and Jack Szostak, focusing on an intensive study: telomeres. These are the ends of the chromosomes of eukaryotic cells, which are required for cell division so as to maintain the integrity and stability of chromosomes. Telomeres are associated with cellular aging.
Greider and Blackburn also discovered that cancer cells are able to continue producing telomerase, leading to the appearance of tumors. This discovery could help find effective substances or to stop the segregation of this enzyme and thus help in the cancer treatment methods.
Ellizabeth and her fellow researchers Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were recognized with the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2009. Such a huge honor.
Besides the Nobel, Elizabeth has become worthy of recognition with awards as Eli Lilly Gold Medal of the American Cancer Society, the Dr. Microbiology Award prize, the prize of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in Molecular Biology, AH Heineken of Medicine, the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science, among many others.
Elizabeth was also included in Time magazine in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Her name is part of the most prestigious scientific organizations in the world such as the American Society for Cell Biology, the Institute of Medicine of the United States or the Royal Society of London (UK).
As Elizabeth, millions of skilled immigrants in medicine and research can obtain a work visa or a green card, all thanks to the O1 Visa which is exclusively for people with extraordinary abilities or the H1B Visa for people with a specific occupation.
In Beltran Brito LLP we have extensive experience providing advice to immigrants who want to opt for a work visa or green card in the United States, trained people ready to build a future in North America. For more information visit us here