Covid complications take the life of pioneering Black scientist who spent her life fighting viral infections

Evelyn Nicol (1930–2020), a world-renowned immunology expert and one of few Black women scientists to ever be awarded a patent for a new medical treatment, died of complications from Covid-19 in May, just a week before her 90th birthday.

In 1976, Nicol became the rare Black American to be awarded a patent for a scientific product, and reportedly the first for a patent in the field of Molecular Biology. U.S. Patent №3,930,944 was for her process of producing the enzyme urokinase, which dissolves blood clots. Previously found only in the human kidney, Nicol discovered how urokinase could be produced in a laboratory, as a treatment to reduce or prevent clots.

Nicol worked as a molecular biologist researching polio virus at the Carver Foundation from 1953–1955, and then she worked for Dr. Frederick Robbins and Dr. John Enders, who won a Nobel Prize for their polio research. At Cleveland City Hospital, Nicol was the first scientist ever to isolate the Herpes Zoster virus — which causes chickenpox and shingles — using amniotic cells in tissue culture. Later, while working at the Rand Corporation, she researched leukemia treatments.

Over her long career she became internationally recognized while at Rand, University of Kansas Medical Center, Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital and, starting in 1962, at Abbott Laboratories.

In addition to her patent-winning work, in the 1980s Nicol developed the Toxoplasma Gondii parasite screening test for pregnant women, as well as improved tests to detect infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Starting in 1985, Nicol led hepatitis research while employed as a Senior Scientist at Baxter Pharmaceuticals. She also headed up the Retro Virology Division, developing Baxter’s diagnostic tests for the blood-borne Human Immunodeficiency Viruses, or HIV, and for Human T-cell Leukemia Virus, or HTLV. Studies confirmed her tests’ superiority over others that were being researched worldwide, at that time.

Nicol never gave up when searching for answers, and insisted upon excellence and extreme precision from her laboratory staff. She was strict and exacting regarding procedures, which accounted for much of her success. “I’ve made many mistakes in my time,” she told her lab team. “I expect you to make mistakes. I expect you to tell me what those mistakes are so we can correct them.”

A girl with no high school diploma

Evelyn Carmon was born in Little Rock, Kentucky, on June 2, 1930, the eighth of eleven children, to Margarite Wilson Carmon and schoolteacher Daniel Eugene Carmon. The local school went only to the eighth grade, so her father taught his children high-school subjects at home. She worked as a domestic servant as a teen, which led to her earning a Home Economics scholarship. In 1949 she enrolled at Alabama’s Tuskegee University.

One week into her college career, Nicol lost her Home Economics scholarship because she changed her major — to a double major in Math and Chemistry, although she had never formally studied either subject. She got a grade of zero on her first math test, but persevered because she knew what she wanted. She persuaded her professor to give her a second chance. Having learned from her parents to tackle her own scholastic improvement, she studied vigorously, somehow taught herself math, and scored 100 percent when she re-took the test. Years later, she would comment on her innate abilities: “Things just come to me. I don’t know how.”

After losing her scholarship, she worked two jobs to continue attending college. In 1953 she graduated at the top of her class — with degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics, along with recognition by Beta Kappa Chi Honors for Science, and Alpha Kappa Mu Honors for Mathematics.

She married Christian Nicol, an electrical engineer, in 1962. They had three children, and later divorced. Her accomplishments were achieved all while being a working mother of three.

This spring, at age 89, she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. While there, in a sad irony, she contracted the Covid virus.

Fighting viruses and racism

Nicol’s solid contributions to medical science contrast mightily with the tentacles of racial prejudice that clawed into her career. While working at Abbott, white male colleagues tried to sabotage her findings, or to take credit for her work. She had to lug her heavy lab records home each night to prevent them from stealing her ideas. She once found a magnet near her computer, because someone was trying to wipe her files clean. To stop being spied upon, she had to cover the windows of her lab with newspaper.

While seeking to the isolate the herpes zoster virus, her boss and their team were trying everything he knew, but failing. While her boss was away on vacation, Nicol tried out her own idea, and it was the one that worked.

She pushed boundaries for women by advocating for fair hiring practices. At one time, the scientists she hired in her department at Baxter were reportedly “almost all women.”

When the studies showing the HIV tests developed by her team at Abbot were the world’s most accurate, Nicol’s department was bought out by another company. But eventually Abbott bought it back. She was then invited by Abbott to continue in her role as Senior Scientist. She refused to return to work for a company where her colleagues had been so openly discriminatory against her. She instead retired and devoted her life to her family, living with her children and grandchildren in Illinois and Connecticut.

In 1988, Linda Smith, another Black woman molecular biologist, had applied for a job on Nicol’s team. Her interview took place at a time when Nicol was out of the office. The panel of six white males who interviewed Smith found her to be too inexperienced for the job.

Later, after being rejected for the job, Smith was surprised to receive a call from Nicol, saying she would like Smith to return so that she could interview her personally. Nicol suspected that Smith had been unfairly passed over by her white coworkers because Smith had done her undergraduate work at Fisk — a historically Black university in Nashville.

Nicol debated the matter with her management, pointing out that Smith was the most qualified applicant. Smith was then hired.

Nicol and Smith were among few women or Blacks at the company, and their team worked successfully on perfecting accurate tests for HIV. Nicol had improved ways of detecting antibodies for HIV. “At that time HIV was the disease everyone was concerned about, but not much was known about it,” Smith said.

How did Nicol find out that Smith’s application had been rejected during her absence, and why did she call the younger woman back?

She told Smith, “I found your resume in the trash can.”

References

Chicago Tribune. June 12–14, 2020. “Evelyn Carmon Nicol, 1930–2020.” https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=evelyn-carmon-nicol&pid=196328986&fhid=14483.

Frellick, Marcia. July 1, 2020. “Pioneering Molecular Biologist Dies of COVID-19 at 89.” https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/933253

Gilmore, Alexandra, and Anna Doherty. August 24, 2020. “Evelyn Nicol, A Legendary Woman in STEAMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Music and Medicine).” https://lifeology.us.lifeomic.com/static/ologies/steamm/evelyn-nicol/index.html#/

Jarreau, Paige. August 25, 2020. “Honoring Evelyn Carmon Nicol, Legendary Immunologist and Pioneering African American Inventor.’ https://lifeology.io/honoring-evelyn-carmon-nicol-legendary-immunologist-and-pioneering-african-american-inventor/

Wade, Eve. “Evelyn Carmon Nicol (1930–2020).” July 17, 2020. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/evelyn-carmon-nicol-1930-2020/