Albert Zaven Kapikian (1930–2014) was an Armenian-American virologist who developed the first licensed vaccine against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants.[1][2] He was awarded the Sabin Gold Medal for his pioneering work on the vaccine. He is the 13th recipient of this recognition, awarded annually by the Sabin Vaccine Institute.[3][4] Called the father of human gastroenteritis virus research, Kapikian identified the first norovirus, initially called Norwalk virus, in 1972; and he and his colleagues at the National Institutes of Health identified the hepatitis A virus in 1973.[5]
Albert Kapikian | |
|---|---|
 Ruth Bishop, Tom Flewett and Al Kapikian, in 1980. | |
| Born | May 9, 1930 |
| Died | February 24, 2014 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | Armenian American |
| Alma mater | Cornell University (BS, MD) |
| Awards | Sabin Gold Medal (2005) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Virology |
Life
editKapikian graduated from Cornell Medical College in 1956 and began a career with the National Institutes of Health in 1957.[citation needed] In 1970 he spent six months in the UK where at the suggestion of his boss he studied the techniques of June Almeida. Almedia took the first photos of coronavirus using novel techniques. Back in the USA he used these techniques to identify non-bacterial gastroenteritis - Norwalk virus.[6]
He was chief of the epidemiology section of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a position he held for 45 years. In 1998 he was appointed deputy director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.[7][8]
Kapikian died on February 24, 2014, at the age of 83.[9][10]
References
edit- ^ "Kapikian and Szeto Receive Alumni Awards". Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ "Learn more about Rotavirus". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. March 26, 2021.
- ^ NIH news
- ^ HAROLD M. SCHMECK Jr. (13 January 1981). "IMAGINATIVE RESEARCHER WAGES 30-YEAR WAR AGAINST VIRUSES". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ "Statement: NIH Mourns the Death of Albert Kapikian". Archived from the original on 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
- ^ "Almeida [née Hart], June Dalziel (1930–2007), virologist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/99332. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 2020-04-15. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Albert Z. Kapikian, M.D." Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ "AAM Welcomes Eight NIH Scientists". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ NIH Mourns the Death of Albert Kapikian
- ^ Morens, David M.; Fauci, Anthony S. (2015). "In Memoriam: Albert Z. Kapikian, MD, 1930–2014". J Infect Dis. 211 (8): 1199–1201. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv034. PMID 25737559.
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