David H. Smith

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David Hamilton Smith (born 1932 in Canton , Ohio ; † February 23, 1999 in New York City ) was an American doctor , researcher, officer , professor, entrepreneur , conservationist and philanthropist .

Career

David Hamilton Smith grew up in Canton, Ohio. He had at least one brother named Richard who was living in Delaware, Ohio at the time of his death . His childhood was overshadowed by the Great Depression and the following years by World War II . His father taught science in Canton and his mother tutored children in math during this time . From his parents he inherited a love for life sciences and a respect for the hardships that scientific method demanded. Smith graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1953 , where his mother also graduated. During his studies he became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa in the first year of his studies . He was president of the student body and editor of the yearbook.

He found his true calling for research while studying medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in the 1950s. He had the opportunity to spend a whole year in the laboratory of his mentor at the faculty , the microbiologist Herbert R. Morgan , and study the cytopathic effect (CPE) in viruses . He later said the following about this time:

"That 'year-out' program changed my life."

In 1958 he graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. After training in pediatrics at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston ( Massachusetts ) he served as a Captain in the US Army . He was stationed in Japan . As a medical officer, he was one of the first to see a connection between septic granulomatosis (CGD) - a very rare hereditary disease - and the lack of white blood cells .

After returning to the United States , he continued his research in molecular genetics and bacteriology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). During this time, Professor Charles Janeway , an early researcher on the human immune system, became his role model and mentor there. At that time, the main focus was on developing new antibiotics . Janeway therefore asked the young doctors to broaden their horizons. Shaped by the bedside experience of enduring the agony of meningitis - an inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord that can be fatal or cause permanent brain damage - Janeway said:

"One of you should try to find a vaccine to prevent this terrible disease."

Smith took up this challenge, which would take him 15 years to solve. He believed that the best research began at the bedside. At that time, 10,000 children were diagnosed with meningitis annually. Five percent of the infected children died. Thirty percent of the survivors had some long-term disabilities , including intellectual disabilities , acquired hearing or deafness, and learning disabilities.

From 1965 to 1976 he was the director of the Infectious Disease Department at Boston Children's Hospital . During this time he began to work with his colleague, microbiologist Porter W. Anderson, Jr. , in 1968 on a vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which is a cause of meningitis.

Smith returned to the University of Rochester in 1976 to take over the direction of the Department of Pediatrics . His first goal there was to improve the basic research programs in this already strongly established department. As a visionary, brilliant strategist and demanding boss, he created new specialized departments. For this he recruited nationally known department heads and expanded the concept of a children's hospital into a hospital. By 1983 he had written nearly 70 articles in medical publications, authored book chapters, editorials and reviews, and received numerous awards.

Convinced that an Hib vaccination was possible but would not interest a pharmaceutical company, he founded Praxis Biologics in Rochester ( New York ) in 1983 . In this regard, his wife Joan later said the following:

"He was so determined to do this, that he quit his job and mortgaged the house and founded the company."

Praxis Biologics' first vaccine, a polysaccharide vaccine, was approved in 1985. However, this was only effective in older children. In 1989 the company was bought by American Cyanamid and renamed Lederle-Praxis . Smith served as chairman and CSO of the new company through 1989 and 1990 . A successor company, Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines, received approval in 1990 for a vaccine that is now used in babies aged 2 months and over. The vaccine stimulates an infant's immune system through the interaction of a protein from another bacterium , such as tetanus or diphtheria toxin (DT), in conjunction with carbohydrate groups ( sugar groups ) from the Hib bacterium (see also glycoproteins ). In this context, the immature immune cells are stimulated by the protein to produce antibodies against the carbohydrate groups of the Hib bacterium, which protects the child from infection. This immunization strategy , which today is based on the use of a “conjugate” vaccine, is used effectively against other childhood diseases.

In 1996 he received the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research for his research on the development of the vaccine . He shared this with his former colleague, Porter W. Anderson, Jr., and two researchers from the National Institutes of Health , John B. Robbins and Rachel Schneerson . Richard A. Insel, a professor at the University of Rochester and a former colleague of Smith, said the following about work on the vaccine:

"The Hib vaccine work is a wonderful success story. I don't think people thought it would be this successful, almost eradicating the disease. "

In the early 1980s, approximately 20,000 cases of Hib disease in preschool children were recorded by the Federal Centers for Disease Control . The children had meningitis in around 12,000 cases. In 1997 only 258 cases were recorded after vaccinating infants a few years earlier.

In addition to his research activities, he was also active as a nature conservationist. Smith led the movement to establish Polly Hill Arboretum , a 60  acre area of ​​more than 2,000 species of plants on Martha's Vineyard , which opened to the public in 1998. He also donated more than $ 9 million to The Nature Conservancy to fund the conservation studies of 48 researchers who had just completed their PhD. At the time of his death in 1999, he was on the board of directors of the Environmental Defense Fund .

He died in 1999 at his home in the Upper East Side in Manhattan at the age of 67 years.

family

He and his wife, Joan, had three daughters: Andrea Smith, Rachel Smith and Jennifer Smith. He also had two stepdaughters named Jody Leader and Kristin Leader. At the time of his death, he had five grandchildren.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b David H. Smith, MD , The History of Vaccines
  2. ↑ Definition of HIB immunization , MedicineNet.com
personal data
SURNAME Smith, David H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, David Hamilton (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American doctor, researcher, officer, professor, entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist
DATE OF BIRTH 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Canton , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1999
Place of death New York City