In 2020, scientists and lab researchers were in a hurry to find an effective vaccine for the Coronavirus disease. This work would not have been accessible if it wasn’t for Ruby Hirose, a second-generation Japanese-American scientist. Born on August 30, 1904, right after her parents relocated from Japan to the White River Valley in Washington, Hirose grew up in a community of predominantly white families, and she struggled with racial discrimination throughout her childhood.
Hirose was one of the first Japanese-Americans of her generation to graduate from Auburn High School in 1922 and continued to study in Washington, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1926 and a Master’s degree in pharmacology in 1928.
Her studies then led her from her home state to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she studied the medicinal properties of Hydrastis Canadensis, earned her Ph.D. in 1932, and started work at the local university. There, Ruby researched blood clotting, vaccines, allergies, and other advances, continuing her career through a dark period in U.S. history for those of Japanese descent.
Ruby went on to make major contributions to the development of vaccines in a primarily male-dominated field. In 1938, she was hired by the research division at the William S. Merrell Company and began her research on antitoxins and serums. Her research there contributed to the development of an effective infantile paralysis (polio) vaccine, which helped millions worldwide. Polio is a deadly global epidemic that has left many victims in a permanent state of paralysis, and although it was not as deadly as SARS-CoV-2, polio was the most feared disease of the 20th century. However, with the contribution of Hirose and other laboratory experts like herself, polio was eradicated in 1955. While working at the William S. Merrell Laboratories, Hirose also made strides in improving treatments that used pollen extracts to “desensitize” people with allergies. Her efforts to develop a diphtheria vaccine helped lead to the idea of treating the pollen with alum to make it more effective. In 1940, the American Chemical Society hosted a ceremony with 300 members, only 10 of which were women, where Ruby was recognized for her remarkable accomplishments in the field of biochemistry.
While Dr. Hirose was working in labs in Ohio during WWll, the Japanese-American community living on the west coast, including her family, was sent to internment camps two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ruby, however, avoided imprisonment because of her location in the midwest. Later in 1958, she moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where she taught microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as a bacteriologist at the Lebanon Veterans Administration Hospital.
Ruby Hirose’s legacy lives on through her dedication to her research and publications. She once stated, “I needed to mingle with my own… who understood my problems and frustrations.”
She was constantly looked down upon solely because she was a woman and part of a minority, but we remember her for transgressing the boundaries that marginalized her.
Her research, efforts, and contribution to the vaccine for polio also allowed others to use her findings to aid the discovery of more vaccines. She showcased her talents through the holistic approach to the science field, and her story continues to inspire women of all ages to stay passionate regardless of stigma. Especially in the midst of a pandemic, it is important to learn about the women who have given the world a token of knowledge to allow current scientists to work hard in finding a vaccine to catalyze a past life we constantly yearn for.
"I need to mingle with my own... who understand my problems and frustrations!" - Ruby Hirose
Writer: Lauren White
Editor: Leah Tovar
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