Robert M. Chanock

Robert M. Chanock ( born July 8, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois; † 30 July 2010 in Sykesville, Maryland) was an American virologist and pediatrician. He discovered in 1956 that respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV).

Life

Chanock was born in 1924 as son of manufacturer Theodore Chanock and his wife Frances. In 1943 he was drafted into the U.S. Army, who supported him during medical studies at the University of Chicago. After graduating in 1947, he completed his training as a pediatrician at Highland Hospital in Oakland and at the University of Chicago. During the Korean War, he was drafted again in 1952, but used due to illness only to infectiological research in Tokyo. After his return to the U.S. he worked from 1954 together with Albert Sabin at the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati. Chanock has held research and teaching positions at the University of Cincinnati and Johns Hopkins University. From 1957 he worked at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( NIAID) in Bethesda, where he led the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases conducted from 1968 to 2001. In 2008 he retired finally back from the research activity.

Robert M. Chanock was married to Catherine Elizabeth Chanock (nee Osgood, † 2009). The couple had two sons.

Work

The virologist discovered 1956, the respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV). His group identified four serotypes of parainfluenza viruses and dismissed in 1962 after the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a cause of atypical pneumonia after. Under Chanocks line the Norwalk virus was identified at the Laboratory of Infectious Disease. He and his team were instrumental in the development of the first nasally administered influenza vaccine. A vaccine for the prevention of severe respiratory infections caused by infection with Human adenoviruses in recruits of the U.S. armed forces was also developed by his research group. The vaccines developed against the Chanock discovered by respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV) were in clinical trials, however, not effective. A developed in the working group of monoclonal antibodies for newborns with risk factors occurs in the RSV prevention apply.

Honors and Memberships

Chanock received for his academic work of numerous awards, including the following:

The University of Chicago gave Chanock an honorary doctorate. Other awards include the Distinguished Service Medal and the U.S. Public Health Service Meritorious Service Award.