Pearl Kendrick, Loney Gordon and Grace Eldering studied pertussis in the 1930s. They developed and ran the first large scale study of a successful vaccine for the disease.
The first vaccine against pertussis was developed in the 1930s by pediatrician Leila Denmark.
Ditto @RustyBertrand adding a link so curious people like me can read up a bit (I just looked it up before boosting)
https://www.history.com/news/whooping-cough-vaccine-pertussis-great-depression
@RustyBertrand EXCELLENT!!!! Thank you, Ladies!!!
@RustyBertrand perhaps Henrietta Lacks also deserves a special spot among the women in science who have changed the world. In her own way, she has had a significant impact on numerous research studies, vaccines, and more, even without her consent and without her knowledge. Hail to He cells!
@RustyBertrand
Leila Denmark, who as you mentioned co- created an early pertussis vaccine, continued her pediatrics practice until 2001, retiring at the age of 103.
BLM 
@RustyBertrand
Due to antivaxxers, my wife, my baby daughter, and myself contracted pertussis 20 years ago. My daughter was hospitalized. We are all thankful for the vaccines these people created.
@RustyBertrand That’s awesome that they are being shared, there are so many women whose work has gone unreported. I like listening to the Lost Women of Science podcast, I wonder if they will be featured on there some day. Seems like a good fit.
@RustyBertrand My dad almost died of pertussis as a child.