Harry Hoogstraal

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Harry Hoogstraal

Harry Hoogstraal (born February 24, 1917 in Chicago , Illinois ; died February 24, 1986 in Cairo ) was an American tropical medicine doctor, acarologist, and parasitologist .

Youth and Studies

Harry Hoogstraal grew up in Chicago and was brought by his mother and sister to the regular Saturday morning lectures for children at the Field Museum of Natural History . Soon the children were allowed to take part in the afternoon lectures for adults given by celebrities such as polar explorer Richard E. Byrd or the adventurers and documentary filmmakers Osa Johnson and Martin Johnson . In addition, Harry was allowed to visit the research departments.

Harry Hoogstraal attended Fenger High School in Chicago until 1934. He then studied zoology at the University of Chicago and received his bachelor's degree in 1938. During his master's degree, between 1938 and 1941, he took part in three expeditions to Mexico, which were supposed to research the spread and diseases of various animal species. During one of these expeditions, Hoogstraal had an accident on a mountain road when the brakes on his vehicle failed. He suffered very serious injuries and could only be saved because two American doctors happened to be present at the hospital in Mexico City who were carrying a sulfonamide that was newly developed at the time .

Research and Teaching

In 1942 Hoogstraal received his master's degree and entered the United States Army . During his service, he researched the malaria and mosquito fauna of Papua New Guinea and the Philippines . He started planning a zoological expedition to the Philippines. He managed to win Karl P. Schmidt , the curator of the zoological collection of the Field Museum of Natural History, for his plans. In cooperation with the National Museum of the Philippines , an extensive faunistic study of the Philippine islands of Luzon , Mindanao and Palawan was carried out under Hoogstraal's direction shortly after the end of the Second World War by US and Filipino researchers . Hundreds of thousands of animals collected in the process, some of which were previously unknown, were divided between the collections of the Philippine National Museum and the Field Museum.

From 1948 to 1949, Hoogstraal investigated the relationships between parasites and their hosts in East Africa and Madagascar on behalf of the United States Navy and the University of California . In 1949 he became head of the Sudanese branch of Naval Medical Research Unit Three (NAMRU-3) and investigated parasite-host relationships in the province of Equatoria . The studies carried out there formed the basis for his monograph on ticks in Sudan , published in 1956 and comprising 1,100 pages .

In 1950, Hoogstraal became head of the medical zoology department at NAMRU-3 in Cairo and held that position until his death. He continued his postgraduate studies and earned a Ph.D. in 1959. the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine . In 1971 he also received the degree of Doctor of Science from the London School .

Hoogstraal described several hundred taxa , mostly parasites. Alone or together with colleagues, he wrote more than 500 publications, including a bibliography of ticks and the infectious diseases they transmit in eight volumes. He edited more than 1,750 books and essays that had appeared in the countries of the Warsaw Pact in Eastern European languages ​​and that were translated into English at his instigation.

Hoogstraal was a member of numerous scientific associations. From 1984 he was President of the American Society of Parasitologists and in 1986 he was a candidate for President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene .

Harry Hoogstraal was considered the world's leading authority on the taxonomy of ticks . In addition, he was a recognized expert in ecology , zoogeography , arboboviruses , rickettsiae , parasitology and epidemiology . He died in his sleep on the morning of his 69th birthday. In an obituary, he was described as an outstanding medical entomologist and the greatest authority on ticks and the diseases they transmit that has ever lived ( English one of the outstanding medical entomologists of this or any generation and, without question, the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived ).

Honors and dedication names (selection)

Hoogstraal has been honored for his research by numerous scientific and government institutions. The Walter Reed Medal of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and his two honorary doctorates are outstanding :

More than 200 species have been named after Harry Hoogstraal, mainly parasites and their hosts from all over the animal kingdom:

Publications (selection)

literature

  • James E. Keirans: Harry Hoogstraal (1917-1986) . In: Journal of Medical Entomology 1986, Volume 23, No. 4, pp. 342-344, doi : 10.1093 / jmedent / 23.4.342 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d James E. Keirans: Harry Hoogstraal (1917–1986) , p. 342.
  2. ↑ James E. Keirans: Harry Hoogstraal (1917-1986) , pp. 342-343.
  3. ↑ a b James E. Keirans: Harry Hoogstraal (1917–1986): A Bibliography . In: Journal of Medical Entomology 1987, Volume 24, No. 2, pp. 121-140, doi : 10.1093 / jmedent / 24.2.121 .
  4. ↑ a b c d James E. Keirans: Harry Hoogstraal (1917–1986) , p. 343.
personal data
SURNAME Hoogstraal, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American acarologist and parasitologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1986
Place of death Cairo