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Joseph
Leidy, MD (M 1844), renowned naturalist and the nation's first parasitologist.
Leidy spent his entire career at his alma mater, authoring about 1,200
articles and describing more than 100 new species of intestinal parasites.
Leidy's 1846 observation of trichina cysts in the muscles of pigs led
to an understanding of trichinosis and the importance of cooking pork
thoroughly. In 1871 he explained the role of houseflies in transmitting
disease. His later work demonstrated that hookworm parasites in cats might
cause chronic anemia in humans. (American Society for Microbiology Archives)
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Edward Orem Shakespeare,
MD (M 1869), nationally distinguished pioneer in bacteriology and public
health, pictured here as a US Army medical officer, 1899. Early in his career
Shakespeare pursued ophthalmology at Philadelphia General Hospital (also
known as Blockley). His interests extended to pathology and bacteriology.
Blockley appointed Shakespeare as its first "Bacteriologist,"
while Penn gave him a faculty position in pathology. Shakespeare made his
mark studying late-19th-century epidemics in the US and abroad. He explained
the 1885 outbreak of typhoid fever in Plymouth, PA, the result of water
supply contamination. That same year President Grover Cleveland appointed
him to investigate cholera in Europe and India. During the Spanish-American
War, Shakespeare worked as a medical officer alongside Drs. Walter Reed
and Victor Vaughan in solving the problem of typhoid fever epidemics in
US Army camps. (Edward O. Shakespeare)
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Allen John Smith,
MD (M 1886). Smith, who headed Penn's pathology department from 1903 to
1926, greatly improved laboratory instruction at Penn, particularly in
the area of staining tubercle bacillus. One of his most important contributions
was in parasitology: Smith distinguished the American hook-worm from the
Ancylostoma of the old world. (American Society for Microbiology Archives)
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