On the 8th Gay Day of Christmas ...

… my blogger gave to me …

8 DOCTORS IMMUNIZING

Believe it or not, but milkmaids were instrumental in bringing about the eradication of smallpox. Dr. Edward Jenner had noticed that milkmaids who contracted the milder cowpox never got smallpox. From this Jenner began vaccination (from the Latin word for cow) to fight smallpox.

Taking this example as my basis for the 8^th Gay Day of Christmas I bring you 8 lgbt scientists and doctors who have worked in disease research. There are many others around the world. I won’t include lgbt researchers into HIV and AIDS because I intend to cover all aspects of AIDS research next December.

1          P. ROBERT BEATTY

Professor of Immunology and lecturer at the University of California Berkeley. He helped to develop a biochip used to identify specific diseases. For 15 years he focussed his research on T-cell immunology.

2          MARGERY L. COOK, PhD (1925-2001)

Dr. Cook was one of the leading researchers into the herpes virus. She studied and worked at the University of California Los Angeles until her retirement in 1993.

3          ROCHELLE (SHELLEY) DIAMOND, BA

Research biologist at the California Institute of Technology specialising in developmental immunology and flow cytometry. She is chair of NOGLSTP, the National Organisation of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals.

4          JAMES NOWICK, PhD

Professor of Chemistry at the University of California Irvine. His work has included developing new drug designs for neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

5.         LOUISE PEARCE (1885-1959)

Pathologist at the Rockerfeller Institute who helped develop a treatment for sleeping sickness. She also developed tryparsanide, the standard drug to treat syphilis before penicillin was discovered.

6.         DEVIN SOK

Graduate student at the Scripps Research Institute on California working on research into prostate cancer. In 2012 he co-authored a paper on the inhibition of HIV-1 subtype C. Co-founder of QuEST, Queer Engineers and Technical Professionals.

7          RICK TAN, MD

Los Angeles doctor who has researched into allergies, asthma and immunology. He is president of one of the USA’s oldest organisations for lgbt physicians, and president of LA’s Society of Allergy, Asthmas and Clinical Immunology.

8          LADY MARY WORTLEY-MONTAGU (1689-1762)

While living in Turkey Lady Mary saw the use of inoculation against smallpox. She brought the practice back to England, where it received a mixed response, though it eventually became common before Jenner developed vaccination.