Gertrud Theiler Prize in Physiology or Medicine for development of the yellow fever vaccine. Gertrud Theiler Gertrud Theiler (11 September 1897 – 2 May 1986) was a South African parasitologist and teacher most noted for her work with nematodes and ticks. Born on 11 September 1897 in Pretoria, South Africa, Theiler graduated from Pretoria Girls’ High School and spent a year at Rhodes University College in Grahamstown, South Africa, before transferring to South African College in Cape Town, where she graduated in 1918 with a Bachelor of Science degree. She went to Europe to undertake postgraduate work in helminthology at the University
Max Theiler Medical School, King's College London, and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1922, he was awarded a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene; he became a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Theiler wanted to pursue a career in research, so in 1922, he took a position at the Harvard University School of Tropical Medicine in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He spent several years investigating amoebic dysentery and trying to develop a vaccine for rat-bite fever. After becoming assistant to Andrew Sellards, he started