Nobel laureate Carol Greider overcame Dyslexia with persistence; read her inspiring story

A post about the inspiring journey of one of the three winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine despite her struggles with the learning disability, dyslexia, has motivated the internet. Shared on Nobel Prize’s official Instagram handle, the post talks about Carol Greider’s achievements in molecular biology as she overcame dyslexia as a child, circumventing her inability to sound out words.

“School was not easy for me,” Greider said. She won one of the most respected prizes Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that has the potential to fight cancer and age-related diseases. “Carol Greider achieved success in molecular biology in the same way she overcame dyslexia as a child: with persistence and creativity,” the official page of the Nobel Prize wrote. Further, it added that while Greider struggled to read and write the traditional way due to her condition, she did not let her medical condition stand in the way of her goals.

[Carol Greider, along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of telomerase. Credit: Yale Center For Dyslexia & Creativity]

“She found another way,” the page informed, adding, Greider “taught herself to memorize words and letter order” and became one of the many Nobel Laureates that has Dyslexia. Greider was handed the award along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak in 2009. She also won the 2006 Albert Lasker Award, one of the most recognized awards for the sciences. 

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Found ways to overcome difficulties

In The Yale Centre For Dyslexia and Creativity’s release, Greider said, "When I was in elementary school I was considered a poor speller and somebody who couldn’t sound out words, so I was taken into remedial classes.” She added that her tutor took her out of class, it certainly felt like she wasn’t as good as the other kids. At an early age, Dyslexia was apparent in her spoken language, as she sounded jumbled words, however, she found ways to overcome the difficulties.

“I would memorize words and how they were spelled rather than try to sound them out,” Greider said. “Some of the ways that I overcame my struggles in school helped me, later on, to be able to focus,” she added. While both her parents were scientists, Greider studied biology and applied at Cal Tech and U.C. Berkeley for education, where she was accepted. Then, overcoming the challenges her journey turned to success after she won the Nobel Prize. 

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