Max TheilerBorn 30 Jan 1899; died 11 Aug 1972 at age 73.American microbiologist who won the 1951 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his research on yellow fever. Theiler's discovery that mice are susceptible to yellow fever facilitated research and eventual development of a vaccine against the disease in humans. Upon graduation from medical training in tropical medicine in London, he joined the department of tropical medicine at the Harvard Medical School, U.S. and studied infectious diseases. His research on yellow fever led to development of the first attenuated strain of the virus. He moved to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical, N.Y. (1930-64), where with his associates he developed the improved (17-D) vaccine, widely used for human immunization against yellow fever. |
