She continued to Hunter College where she completed a Master of Science in biochemistry in 1969. Meade-Tollin worked at both Harlem and Bellevue Hospitals before entering a Ph.D. program in chemistry at the City University of New York (CUNY) at age 21. After a year, she switched to biochemistry, completing her thesis on gene expression in E. coli and finishing her degree in 1972. Meade-Tollin may have been first Black woman to graduate from CUNY with a biochem Ph.D. but CUNY records don't indicate race and therefore cannot confirm this milestone.
