Marilyn Hughes Gaston (born in 1939) is a physician and researcher. She was the first black woman to direct the Bureau of Primary Health Care in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. She is most famous for her work studying sickle cell disease (SCD). Early life Marilyn Hughes Gaston was born in 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gaston first graduated from Miami University in 1960 before she graduated from medical school at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1964 where she then pursued her path in pediatric medicine. She was the only woman of six and the only African American in her graduating class. She finished her internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and completed her residency years in pediatric medicine at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center. During Gaston’s childhood years, her family's poor financial status discouraged her efforts to become a doctor. Although, Gaston never let the fact that she was black, poor and a woman, keep her from following her dreams for becoming a doctor. Family and personal life While growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, she lived in a three-room apartment in the public housing projects with her younger and older half-brother. Growing up money was very tight and at a frightening level to provide for her whole family. Gaston’s father, Myron Hughes, worked as a waiter while her mother, Dorothy Hughes, a Medical secretary. Even though her family did not have what a normal family would have, she wanted to ensure people that her childhood was filled with laughter and love. She received little encouragement to follow her dreams of becoming a doctor because it would be a slim chance for her since her family would not be able to financially send and support her through medical school. One of the main reasons that Gaston wanted to become a doctor was because her mother Dorothy Hughes suffered from Cervical cancer with no access to health insurance. Her family's poverty inspired Gaston to be committed to public health. Gaston also worked to bring affordable health care to impoverished families and was the first black woman to direct a public health service bureau (Bureau of Primary Health Care in the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Through this program, with only a 5-million-dollar budget, she was able to bring impoverished families the opportunity to have access to medical workers, medical