George Frederick Dick

For other people named George Dick, see George Dick (disambiguation).

George Frederick Dick (July 21, 1881 – October 10, 1967) was an American physician and bacteriologist best known for his work with scarlet fever.

George Frederick Dick
Born	July 21, 1881 Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Died	October 10, 1967 (1967-10-11) (aged 86) Palo Alto, California
Nationality	American
Known for	scarlet fever
Spouse	Gladys Rowena Henry Dick
Awards	Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1933)
Scientific career
Fields	bacteriology
Institutions	Rush Medical College, Chicago

Dick studied scarlet fever whilst serving the Army Medical Corps during World War I. Dick continued with his research into scarlet fever following the war, and in 1923, in collaboration with his wife Gladys Rowena Dick, managed to locate the cause of the disease in a toxin produced by a strain of Streptococcus bacteria. Using this, they were able to create an antitoxin for treatment and a non-toxic vaccine for immunization. In 1933, Dick his wife were awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh.

He was a professor of clinical medicine at Rush Medical College, Chicago (1918–33), and then became the head of the department of medicine at the University of Chicago (1933–45).

References

• Dick, G F; Dick, G H (1983), "Landmark article Jan 26, 1924: The etiology of scarlet fever. By George F. Dick and Gladys Henry Dick", JAMA, vol. 250, no. 22 (published Dec 9, 1983), p. 3096, doi:10.1001/jama.250.22.3096, PMID 6358561
• Rhoads, P S (1972), "Personal glimpses of past medical heroes of Chicago", The Proceedings of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, vol. 29, no. 1 (published Jan 1972), pp. 16–23, PMID 4552857
• Jacobson, L O (1969), "George F. Dick 1880–1967", Trans. Assoc. Am. Physicians, vol. 82, p. 32, PMID 4912000
• Rhoads, P S (1967), "George Frederick Dick 1881–1967", The Proceedings of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, vol. 26, no. 12 (published Nov 1967), pp. 325–7, PMID 4947471