Simon FlexnerBorn 25 Mar 1863; died 2 May 1946 at age 83.American pathologist and bacteriologist who isolated (1899) a common strain (Shigella dysenteriae) of dysentery bacillus and developed a curative serum for cerebrospinal meningitis (1907). He directed a research team that identified the poliomyelitis virus. At the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, he was director of laboratories (1903-35), and director of the Institute (1920-35). For thirty-five years he cultivated the spirit and guided the work of the institute, while implementing John D. Rockefeller's vision of bringing medicine into the realm of science. |
