Robert M. Chanock
Robert Merritt Chanock (July 8, 1924 – July 30, 2010) was an American pediatrician and virologist who made major contributions to the prevention and treatment of childhood respiratory infections in more than 50 years spent at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Chanock was born July 8, 1924, in
After completing his medical training, he did a
He joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he discovered the
In 1962 Robert Chanock visited Dr. Leonard Hayflick at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to obtain a culture of his normal human fetal cell strain, WI-38, because of Hayflick's report that it replicated all of the then known human viruses. Chanock described his work with the “Eaton Agent” to Hayflick where it was assumed it to be the viral cause of Primary Atypical Pneumonia (PAP) or “walking pneumonia” in humans. This cause was never proven.
Hayflick suggested to Chanock that the cause might be a mycoplasma (then called a PPLO). Hayflick wrote his thesis on mycoplasma causes of respiratory diseases in animals and suggested to Chanock that PAP might be caused by a mycoplasma. Chanock replied that he never heard of PPLO's. At Hayflick's request egg yolk in which the Eaton Agent was grown was sent to him by Chanock. Hayflick grew a mycoplasma, the smallest free-living microorganism, on a unique agar growth medium that he developed. Together they proved that it was the etiological agent of PAP.[4] Hayflick named the organism Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
Chanock was named head of the NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases in 1968. The WI-38 normal human cell strain gifted to Chanock resulted in the development of an adenovirus vaccine in 1964. This vaccine has been used in the world's military where the virus produces a disease similar to the flu and forces recruits to enter clinics for many days.
Researchers working with Chanock developed another vaccine using WI-38 to prevent Hepatitis A. They also produced a rotavirus vaccine, addressing the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in infants and young children, as well as an influenza virus vaccine in the form of a nasal spray. Efforts were undertaken to create a vaccine to deal with dengue fever, though efforts to create immunizations for para-influenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus were unsuccessful.[4]
Chanock was elected to the
NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci called Chanock "an outstanding scientist whose innumerable contributions to the understanding of viral diseases helped make the world a healthier place for millions of people".[5]
A resident of Bethesda, Maryland, Chanock died at age 86 on July 30, 2010, at an assisted living facility in Sykesville, Maryland, due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was survived by a son, Stephen Chanock, and four grandchildren.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Altman, Lawrence K. "Dr. Robert M. Chanock, Prominent Virologist, Dies at 86", The New York Times, August 4, 2010. Accessed August 9, 2010.
- ^ "Robert M. Chanock, M.D." Archived from the original on October 1, 2006. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, backed up by the Internet Archive as of October 1, 2006. Accessed August 9, 2010. - ^ a b c d Brown, Emma. "Robert M. Chanock, virologist who studied children's diseases, dies at 86", The Washington Post, August 4, 2010. Accessed August 9, 2010.
- ^ PMID 13878126.
- ^ Fauci, Anthony. "On the Death of Dr. Robert M. Chanock", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases press release dated August 3, 2010. Accessed August 9, 2010.