Shirley Aldythea Marshall Seymour Andrews OAM (5 November 1915 – 15 September 2001) was an Australian biochemist, dancer, researcher and Aboriginal rights activist.
[2] In 1994 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for "service to folklore through the study of Australian traditional social dancing".
[3] After completing her Bachelor of Science degree, Andrews was offered a Caroline Kay scholarship to the veterinary school at Melbourne University.
After accepting the scholarship offer, Andrews worked at the Veterinary School for six years, doing biochemical testing on animal tissue and fluids.
At Royal Park she worked to establish safe methods of using lithium to treat symptoms of manic depressive illness (now bipolar disorder).
[5] It was while working in this area that she discovered that bromureide (bromide) drugs — widely used as a tranquilliser at the time — instigated symptoms of mental illness.