Pirjo Mäkelä

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pirjo Mäkelä

Pirjo Helena Mäkelä (born December 16, 1930 in Lahti ; † November 22, 2011 ) was a Finnish doctor , known for developing vaccines .

Mäkelä graduated from Helsinki University in 1955 with a degree in medicine. She then went to Joshua Lederberg's laboratory in Stanford, specializing in medical microbiology . In 1961 she received her doctorate . She headed the bacteriology department at the State Serum Institute (which later became the Finnish National Public Health Institute) and was a professor. In 1965 she was the vice-president of the institute and in 1995 she retired.

Among other things, she developed vaccines against meningococci , which triggered an epidemic of meningitis among children in Finland in 1973 . She was also involved in the development of other vaccines such as pneumococci and supported vaccination campaigns for children in developing countries (such as Bangladesh and the Philippines).

In 1970 she received the Robert Koch Prize , and in 2002 the Prince Mahidol Prize . She was a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences (as the first woman) since 2003 .

She was married to the professor of bacteriology and serology Olli Mäkelä and had four children, including the professor of biochemistry and molecular biology Tomi Mäkelä.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mäkelä, Pirjo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mäkelä, Pirjo Helena (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish medic, vaccine developer
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Lahti
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 2011