John Franklin Enders
| John Franklin Enders | |
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| Born | February 10, 1897 West Hartford, Connecticut |
| Died | September 8, 1985 (aged 88) Waterford, Connecticut |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Known for | poliomyelitis viruses |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1954 |
John Franklin Enders (February 10, 1897 – September 8, 1985) was an American medical scientist and Nobel laureate. Enders had been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."[1][2]
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[edit] Life
Enders was born in West Hartford, Connecticut and was educated at the Noah Webster School at Hartford and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He then attended Yale University for a short time before entering the United States Army Air Corps in 1918.
After returning from war he graduated from Yale, where he was a member of Scroll and Key as well as Delta Kappa Epsilon, and went on to become a businessman in real estate in 1922. He tried his hand at several careers before choosing to work in the biological field studying infectious diseases, gaining a Ph.D. at Harvard in 1930.
In 1954, while working at Children's Hospital Boston, Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, and Frederick Chapman Robbins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue". This work was the first to show that viruses of this type could be grown and manipulated outside of the body.[3] It was this technique dubbed the Enders-Weller-Robbins method that Jonas Salk used to develop the polio vaccine in 1952. After a large-scale test of the vaccine proved successful in 1954, Salk appeared on a radio show and announced his success to the world.[4] Although he never claimed the credit for himself, he also did not offer up any credit to any of his colleagues, including Enders, Weller, and Robbins, whose technique made his success possible. Salk became a hero to the public, but was somewhat shunned by the scientific community.[5] Despite this misappropriated credit many professionals in the field still regard Enders', Weller's and Robbins' work as substantial have given Enders the title of "The Father of Modern Vaccines".
On October 4, 1960, the New York Times reported that Dr Enders was leading a team testing a measles vaccine on 1,500 retarded children in New York City and another 4,000 children in Nigeria. By late 1961, the vaccine was proven to be completely effective.[6]
Enders died in 1985 in Waterford, Connecticut, aged 88.
[edit] Honors
- 1946: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[7]
- 1953: Election to National Academy of Sciences
- 1953: Passano Award
- 1954: Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
- 1954:Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1955: Charles V. Chapin Medal
- 1955: Gordon Wilson Medal
- 1958: Election to the Polio Hall of Fame at Warm Springs, Georgia
- 1961: TIME Man of the Year
- 1962: Robert Koch Medaille, Germany
- 1963: Presidential Medal of Freedom, United States
- 1967: Foreign Member, Royal Society of London[1]
- 1981: Galen Medal of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, London.
Honorary doctoral degrees from thirteen universities.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Tyrrell, David Arthur John (1987). "John Franklin Enders. 10 February 1897-8 September 1985". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 33: 212–226. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1987.0008. JSTOR 769951.
- ^ Katz, S. L. (2009). "John F. Enders and Measles Virus Vaccine—a Reminiscence". Measles. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 329. pp. 3. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-70523-9_1. ISBN 978-3-540-70522-2.
- ^ Enders JF, Weller TH, Robbins FC (January 1949). "Cultivation of the Lansing Strain of Poliomyelitis Virus in Cultures of Various Human Embryonic Tissues". Science 109 (2822): 85–87. doi:10.1126/science.109.2822.85. PMID 17794160. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=17794160.
- ^ Salk announces polio vaccine. (2010). History.com. Retrieved 09:53, Jan 31, 2010, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6848
- ^ http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/April/Polio-Vaccination-Introduced-to-Public.html
- ^ Dr. John F Enders' Work is Hailed a 'Triumph' by Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, 5 October 2010
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
- ^ Thomas H. Weller and Frederick C. Robb: John Franklin Enders (1897–1985), A Biographical Memoir, Washington (D.C.), 1991 (NAS publication also online PDF) p. 62
[edit] External links
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- 1897 births
- 1985 deaths
- American businesspeople
- American Nobel laureates
- American scientists
- Harvard University alumni
- Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine
- People from West Hartford, Connecticut
- Poliomyelitis
- Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
- St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire) alumni
- Yale University alumni
- American medical researchers
- Foreign Members of the Royal Society
- United States Army Air Forces soldiers
- American military personnel of World War I
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
