Bailey Ashford
708836
217585590
2008-06-06T18:17:12Z
Rjwilmsi
203434
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[[Image:Bailey_K_Ashford.jpg|thumb|right|Bailey K. Ashford]]
Colonel '''Bailey K. Ashford''' was born in [[Washington D.C.]] in [[1873]] and died in [[1934]]. He was one of five children in the family of a prominent physician. His general education was obtained at the public schools and at Columbian University in Washington D.C.(now [[George Washington University]]). In [[1896]], he graduated from the [[Georgetown University]] Medical School and, during this period served as resident physician in several area hospitals.
As a recently commissioned lieutenant in the [[Army Medical Department (United States)|United States Army Medical Corps]], he accompanied the military expedition to [[Puerto Rico]] in [[1898]]. Serving as the medical officer in the general military hospital in [[Ponce, Puerto Rico]], he was the first to describe and successfully treat [[North America]]n [[hookworm]] in [[1899]]. He was a tireless clinician and conducted an exhaustive study of the [[anemia]] caused by hookworm infestation, which was responsible for as many as 12,000 deaths a year. From [[1903]]–[[1904]], he organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign, which cured approximately 300,000 persons (one-third of the Puerto Rico population) and reduced the death rate from this anemia by 90 percent.
Captain Ashford was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Anemia Commission and, by special authority of the Secretary of War, served on the Commission from [[1904]]–[[1906]]. In [[1911]], his proposal for an Institute of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico was approved by the legislature. After serving as a commander of the Army Medical Department’s First Division during [[World War I]], Colonel Ashford was assigned to [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] and campaigned for the development of “a real school of tropical medicine in the American tropics”. The [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11613953&dopt=Abstract School of Tropical Medicine of Puerto Rico] was formally dedicated in [[1925]]. After a 30-year [[Army]] career, Dr. Ashford assumed a full time faculty position at the school and continued his interest in tropical medicine. The building (see drawings[http://medweb.rcm.upr.edu/anes/tropical.html]) in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan just east of the traditional center of the Puerto Rican capital, is one of the few examples, along with the [[University of Puerto Rico]] campus, of a unique hispano-American architectural style.
[[Image:Casa_Bailey_Ashford.jpg|thumb|right|Ashford home in [[Condado, Puerto Rico]]]]
In his honor, the main avenue in the [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]] district of "[[Condado, Puerto Rico|El Condado]]", bears his name as well as Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital, also in [[Condado|Condado, Puerto Rico]]. His home in [[Condado|Condado, Puerto Rico]] is being renovated.
His writings include: ''Anemia in Puerto Rico'' published in [[1904]]; ''Uncinariasis in Puerto Rico'' published in [[1911]]; and ''A Soldier in Science'' published in [[1934]].
After his death in 1934, his remains were interred in [[Puerto Rico National Cemetery]] in the city of [[Bayamón, Puerto Rico|Bayamón]].
==External links==
*[http://www.wramc.amedd.army.mil/departments/dci/Downloads/BKA/BKAbio.pdf Walter Reed Army Medical Center - Bailey K. Ashford]
*[http://www.presbypr.com/ Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital]
[[Category:1873 births|Ashford]]
[[Category:1934 deaths|Ashford]]
[[Category:Georgetown University alumni|Ashford, Bailey]]