Isabella Herb (née Coler; November 6, 1863/1864 – May 28, 1943) was an American medical pioneer in the fields of pathology and anesthesiology.
The Mayo had experienced exponential growth in its first two decades, and accordingly, the upswing in patient case loads necessitated additional trained medical personnel.
In order to free up the Mayo physicians for higher priorities, Herb was brought in to assume pathology and an anesthesia responsibilities.
[5] Upon her 1905 return from Europe, she held a fellowship in pathology from 1909 to 1941 at Rush Medical College in Chicago,[4] and was the first woman on their staff.
She further received a grant from the American Medical Association to work with microbiologist Ludvig Hektoen at the Memorial Institute for Infectious Diseases.
In 1909, Arthur Dean Bevan chose her to head the department of anesthesia at Presbyterian Hospital (merged with Rush Medical College in 1969).
[8] Herb retired in 1941 as professor of surgery (anesthesia), after teaching hundreds of students and training scores of interns.