Excellence in dental research: nominated scholars for the Nobel Prize 1901-1950 with a focus on Lady May Mellanby (1882-1978) and Walter Hess (1885-1980)

Abstract

Why has no dentist received the Nobel Prize so far? To answer that question, we need to take a closer look at the prize candidates. This article presents an overview of scholars in the field of dental research who were nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine during the first half of the twentieth century. Drawing on archival sources in the archive of the Nobel Committee, we focus on the physiologist, Lady May Mellanby (1882-1978) and the dentist, Walter Hess (1885-1980). While Hess did not reach the shortlist, Mellanby was judged 'prize-worthy' by the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine but she never received the award in the end. In this paper, we discuss the impact of their work among dentists.