Meet Science's Forgotten Women

In 1952, a devastating polio epidemic struck Denmark. The disease ravaged much of the Western world while researchers worked intensively on a vaccine - a story most know as a race between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.

Behind their work, however, stood a number of female researchers who never received credit for their contributions. In the medical history graphic novel Matilda Effect, Ann-Louise Bergström names four of them: Herdis von Magnus, Isabel Morgan, Dorothy Horstmann, and Ebba Lund.

Ann-Louise Bergström is a human biologist with a PhD in neuroscience who works with graphic science communication. Her interest in historical epidemics arose during COVID-19 and led to the decision to write the forgotten polio researchers back into history. At the event, she will talk about the four women, the polio epidemic, and the graphic novel genre as a tool for professional and historical communication.

The term "Matilda Effect" is named after women's rights advocate Matilda J. Gage, who in the 1800s documented how women's scientific work was attributed to men. The event takes place in the Study Area on the ground floor.