History of medicine

Rita Levi-Montalcini saw her theories sniffed at in 1950-60s & went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1986. She defied her father by going to medical school; she defied the fascists who barred her from academia by setting up a lab in her bedroom; she braved a move to St. Louis where she worked until she retired in 1979; slept 5 hours a night, 1 meal a day, continued working long after retirement, only to discover nerve growth factor that revolutionized our thinking about nerves. We are in her debt.