Maurice Hilleman 1731754 219475359 2008-06-15T12:10:31Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Infobox Person |name = Maurice Ralph Hilleman |birth_date = [[August 30]] [[1919]] |birth_place = [[Miles City, Montana]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|4|11|1919|8|30}} |death_place = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] |death_cause = [[Cancer]] |nationality = {{USA}} |known_for = Developing several important [[vaccine]]s |occupation = [[Microbiologist]], [[Vaccine|vaccinologist]] |spouse = Lorraine Hilleman }} {{citations missing|date=January 2008|article}}'''Maurice Ralph Hilleman''' ([[August 30]] [[1919]] - [[April 11]] [[2005]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[microbiologist]] who specialized in [[vaccinology]] and developed over three dozen [[vaccine]]s, more than any other scientist. Of the fourteen vaccines routinely recommended in current [[vaccine schedule]]s, he developed eight: those for [[measles]], [[mumps]], [[hepatitis A]], [[hepatitis B]], [[chickenpox]], [[meningitis]], [[pneumonia]] and ''[[Haemophilus influenzae]]'' bacteria.{{fact|date=March 2008}} He also played a role in the discovery of the [[common cold|cold]]-producing [[Adenoviridae|adenoviruses]], the hepatitis viruses, and the [[cancer]]-causing virus [[SV40]]. He is frequently credited with saving more lives than any other scientist of the 20th century.<ref>[[Americans for Medical Progress]] (2005). "[http://www.njabr.org/njsor/science_superstars/hilleman_dies_at_85/ Dr. Maurice Hilleman, Vaccine Legend, dies at age 85]", AMP News Service, New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research, [[April 14]] [[2005]]. Retrieved on [[9 January]] [[2008]].</ref><ref>Patricia Sullivan (2005). "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48244-2005Apr12.html Maurice R. Hilleman Dies; Created Vaccines]", ''[[Washington Post]]'', [[April 13]] [[2005]]. Retrieved on [[9 January]] [[2008]].</ref><ref name=johnson>Linda A. Johnson (2005). "[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2005/04/12/maurice_hilleman_at_85_was_pioneer_in_vaccine_research/ Maurice Hilleman, at 85; was pioneer in vaccine research]", [[Associated Press]], [[April 12]] [[2005]]. Retrieved on [[9 January]] [[2008]].</ref> [[Robert Gallo]] has described him as "the most successful vaccinologist in history".<ref name=collins/> ==Biography== ===Early life and education=== Hilleman was born on a farm near the [[Great Plains|high plains]] town of [[Miles City, Montana]]. His twin sister died when he was born, and his mother died the very next day. He credits much of his success to his work with [[chicken]]s as a boy. Chicken eggs are used to develop vaccines based on weakened viruses. When he was in the [[eighth grade]], he discovered [[Charles Darwin]], and was caught reading ''[[The Origin of Species]]'' in church. Due to lack of money, he almost failed to attend college. His eldest brother interceded, and Hilleman graduated from [[Montana State University]] on a scholarship. He won a fellowship to the [[University of Chicago]] and received his doctoral degree in microbiology in 1941. ===Career=== After joining E.R. Squibb & Sons (now [[Bristol-Myers Squibb]]), he developed a vaccine against [[Japanese B encephalitis]], a disease that threatened American troops in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific Theater]] during [[World War II]]. As chief of the Department of Respiratory Diseases, [[Army Medical School|Army Medical Center]] (now the [[Walter Reed Army Institute of Research]]) from 1948 to 1951, he discovered the genetic changes that occur when the [[influenza]] virus [[Mutation|mutates]], known as ''shift and [[drift]]''. That helped him to recognize that an outbreak of flu in [[Hong Kong]] could become a huge [[pandemic]]. Working on a hunch, he and a colleague found (after nine 14-hour days) that it was a new strain of flu that could kill millions. Forty million doses of vaccines were prepared and distributed. Although 69,000 Americans died, the [[pandemic]] could have resulted in many more US deaths. In 1957, Hilleman joined [[Merck & Co.]] ([[Whitehouse Station, New Jersey]]), as head of its new [[virus]] and [[cell biology]] research department in [[West Point, Pennsylvania]]. It was while with Merck that Hilleman developed most of the forty experimental and licensed animal and human vaccines he is credited with, working both at the laboratory bench as well as providing scientific leadership. In 1963, his daughter Jeryl Lynn came down with the [[mumps]]. He cultivated material from her, and used it as the basis of a [[mumps vaccine]]. The [[Jeryl Lynn]] strain of the [[Mumpsvax|mumps vaccine]] is still used today. The strain is currently used in the trivalent [[MMR vaccine]] that he developed, the first vaccine ever approved incorporating multiple live virus strains. Hilleman was one of the early vaccine pioneers to warn about the possibility that simian viruses might contaminate vaccines.<ref>Bookchin, Debbie & Schumacher, Jim; "The Virus and the Vaccine", pp94-98 et.al. St. Martin's Press (2004)</ref> The best-known of these viruses became [[SV40]], a viral contaminant of the polio vaccine, whose discovery led to the recall of [[Jonas Salk|Salk]]'s vaccine in 1961 and its replacement with [[Albert Sabin]]'s oral vaccine. Hilleman served on numerous national and international advisory boards and committees, academic, governmental and private, including the [[National Institutes of Health]]'s Office of AIDS Research Program Evaluation and the [[Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices]] of the [[National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases|National Immunization Program]]. In his later life, Hilleman was an adviser to the [[World Health Organization]]. He retired as senior vice president of the Merck Research Labs in 1984. At the time of his death on [[April 11]] [[2005]], at the age of 85, Hilleman was Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, [[University of Pennsylvania]], in Philadelphia. ==Recognition== Hilleman was an elected member of the US [[National Academy of Science]], the [[Institute of Medicine]], the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], and the [[American Philosophical Society]]. In 1988 [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] presented him with the [[National Medal of Science]], the nation's highest scientific honor. He received the [[Prince Mahidol Award]] from the [[King of Thailand]] for the advancement of public health, as well as a special lifetime achievement award from the [[World Health Organization]], the [[Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research]] and the Sabin Gold Medal and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In March of 2005 the [[University of Pennsylvania]] School of Medicine's Department of [[Pediatrics]] and The [[Children's Hospital of Philadelphia]], in collaboration with The Merck Company Foundation, announced the creation of The Maurice R. Hilleman Chair in Vaccinology. [[Robert Gallo]], co-discover of the virus that causes AIDS, once said “If I had to name a person who has done more for the benefit of human health, with less recognition than anyone else, it would be Maurice Hilleman. Maurice should be recognized as the most successful vaccinologist in history.” <ref name=collins>Huntly Collins (1999). "[http://www.njabr.org/njsor/science_superstars/maurice_hilleman/ The Man Who Saved Your Life - Maurice R. Hilleman]", ''Philadelphia Enquirer'', [[August 30]] [[1999]]. Retrieved on [[9 January]] [[2008]].</ref> ==Biography== *[[Paul Offit|Offit, Paul A.]] (2007), ''Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases'', Collins, ISBN 0061227951. ==External links== * [http://www.counterpunch.org/nader04162005.html CounterPunch.org] - 'Vaccines Don't Make the Same Profits for Big Pharma that Lifestyle Drugs Do -- Scientists or Celebrities?' [[Ralph Nader]] (April 16/17, 2005) ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{vaccines}} <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] --> {{Persondata |NAME = Hilleman, Maurice Ralph |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |SHORT DESCRIPTION = Pioneering [[Vaccine|vaccinologist]] |DATE OF BIRTH = [[August 30]] [[1919]] |PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Miles City, Montana]] |DATE OF DEATH = [[April 11]] [[2005]] |PLACE OF DEATH = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilleman, Maurice}} [[Category:American microbiologists]] [[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]] [[Category:People from Montana]] [[Category:Vaccinologists]] [[Category:1919 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:Montana State University alumni]] [[Category:University of Chicago alumni]] [[fr:Maurice Hilleman]]