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Date:1940s and 1950s​ Who: Jane C. Wright ​ Where : Harlem Hospital center, New York​ What: Jane C. Wright was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon who made significant contributions to chemotherapy. She is best known for developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells.​ Learn more: https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_336.html​

Date:1944​ Who: Vivien Thomas​ Where: John Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland​ What: Vivien Thomas was an American Laboratory Supervisor who developed a procedure to treat cyanotic heart disease. His contributions helped treat a potentially fatal congenital cardiac abnormality​ Learn more:Just One More | Vivien Thomas: Remembering a Pioneering Legend - American College of Cardiology (acc.org)​ https://www.msm.edu/Prospective_Students/admissions/PipelinePrograms/VivienThomas/commhealth_trainingprograms_vivien_bio.php​ Soylu, E., Athanasiou, T., & Jarral, O. A. (2017). Vivien Theodore Thomas (1910–1985): An African-American laboratory technician who went on to become an innovator in cardiac surgery. Journal of medical biography, 25(2), 106-113.​ HEIMBECKER, R., THOMAS, V., & BLALOCK, A. (1951). Experimental reversal of capillary blood flow. Circulation, 4(1), 116-119.​ Kay, J. H., & THOMAS, V. (1954). Experimental production of pulmonary insufficiency: physiological and pathological study. AMA Archives of Surgery, 69(5), 646-650.​

Date: 1958​ Who: Marie M. Daly​ Where: Columbia University, New York City​ What: Dr. Marie M. Daly was a biochemist and the first Black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States. She made several critical contributions to medicine, including the discovery of the relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease and conducting pioneering research into the effects of cigarette smoke on the lungs. Her work created a new understanding of how food, diet, and lifestyle can affect heart health.​ Learn more : Marie M. Daly — From a Love of Science to a Legacy of Discoveries - Science in the News (harvard.edu)​ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=823L6n0NTvg​ Daly, M. M., & Mirsky, A. E. (1952). Formation of protein in the pancreas. The Journal of General Physiology, 36(2), 243.​ Daly, M. M., Allfrey, V. G., & Mirsky, A. E. (1955). SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN IN THE PANCREAS: III. UPTAKE OF GLYCINE-N15BY THE TRYPSINOGEN AND CHYMOTRYPSINOGEN OF MOUSE PANCREAS. The Journal of General Physiology, 39(2), 207.​ Allfrey, V., Daly, M. M., & Mirsky, A. E. (1953). Synthesis of protein in the pancreas: II. The role of ribonucleoprotein in protein synthesis. The Journal of general physiology, 37(2), 157-175.

Date: 1965-2005​ Who: Julian Manly Earls​ Where: Glenn research center, Brooks Park, Ohio​ What: Julian Manly Earls is a NASA physicist who was appointed into various leadership positions making him NASA’s first black section head, office chief, division chief, deputy director, and NASA's second black center director.​ Learn more :Julian M. Earls - African American Scientists - Library at St. Clair County Community College (sc4.edu)​ https://www.captechu.edu/blog/dr-julian-manly-earls-man-of-many-nasa-firsts​ https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/julian-manly-earls-40​

Date: 1964​ Who: Aklilu Lemma​ Where: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia​ What: Aklilu Lemma was an Ethiopian doctor and Pathobiologist who discovered a natural treatment against bilharzia, a debilitating and eventually fatal illness. He relentlessly studied and systematically improved his research, developing an affordable preventative, locally controllable means of eradicating a disease that, after malaria, has been the second greatest killer in the Third World.​ Learn more: Biography of Aklilu Lemma (biographies.net)​ Lemma, A. (1970). Laboratory and field evaluation of the molluscicidal properties of Phytolacca dodecandra. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 42(4), 597.​ https://www.aau.edu.et/alipb/​

Date: 1986​ Who: Patricia Era Bath​ Where: Los Angeles, California​ What: The first African American to finish a residency in ophthalmology, Dr. Bath became the first female African American medical doctor to receive a medical patent when she invented a laser cataract treatment device called a Laserphaco Probe in 1986. ​ Learn more :What do we know about Dr. Patricia Bath, the inventor of laserphaco? (medicalnewstoday.com)​ https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_26.html​ Núñez Valdés, J., Pablos Pons, F. D., & Ramos Carrillo, A. (2022). Pioneering black African American women chemists and pharmacists. Foundations, 2(3), 624-638.​

Date: 1973​ Who: Shirley Ann Jackson​ Where: Boston, Massachusetts​ What: Shirley Ann Jackson is an American scientist and theoretical physicist who became the first black women to receive a doctorate from the Massachusetts institute of technology. She went on to become the first woman and first African American to chair the U.S Nuclear regulatory commission.​ Learn more: Shirley Ann Jackson's Biography (thehistorymakers.org)​ Zierler, D. (2021). Q&A: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute president Shirley Ann Jackson on navigating the ivory tower as a Black woman.​ Jackson, S. A. (1968). Tunneling density of states behavior in superconducting niobium-titanium (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).​ ​

Date: 1979-1993​ Who: Melaku Worede​ Where: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia​ What: Melaku Worede was a conservationist and agronomist from Ethiopia. Dr. Worde helped preserve his country’s genetic diversity by collecting and safely storing a considerable amount of Ethiopia’s genetic wealth. In the process of storing this genetic diversity, Melaku Worede established not only Africa’s finest facility of its kind but one of the world’s premier genetic conservation systems​ Learn more:Melaku Worede, crop genetics leader (1936–2023) (nature.com)​ Worede, M., Tesemma, T., & Feyissa, R. (2000). Keeping diversity alive: an Ethiopian perspective. In Genes in the field: On-farm conservation of crop diversity. IDRC, Ottawa, ON, CA.​ Worede, M. (1991). An Ethiopian perspective on conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources. Plant genetic resources of Ethiopia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 3-19.

Date: 1990​ Who: Alan Emtage​ Where: McGill university, Montreal, Canada​ What: During his role as a systems administrator for the school of Computer Science at McGill university, Emtage created a program that would automate the time-consuming process of finding software for teachers and students. He named the program “Archie,”. Though unpatented, his program was the world’s first search engine​ Learn more :Alan Emtage Creator of ARCHIE, the World’s First Search Engine | Washington D.C. & Maryland Area | Capitol Technology University (captechu.edu)​

Date: 2005​ Who: Marian Croak​​ Where: N/A​ Croak is most known for creating VoIP in the late 1900s. However, she is also known for working with her team to create the first text-to-donate service. This really aided relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.​

Date:1992​ Who: Mae Jemison​ Where: Outer space​ What: A doctor and engineer, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to become an Astronaut. She spent a week orbiting the earth as a mission specialist abroad the space shuttle, endeavor. ​ Learn more: Mae Jemison Biography (womenshistory.org)​

Date: 2013 Who: Ruha Benjamin​​ Where: New Jersey​​ What: In addition to being the founding director of the Ida B. Wells JUST Data Lab, Benjamin is a professor of African American Studies at Princeton. She has authored 4 books. Her focus area is the intersection of society, medicine, and technology.