Albert Zaven Kapikian (1930–2014) was an Armenian-American virologist who developed the first licensed

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.

against

rotavirus ''Rotavirus'' is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family ''Reoviridae''. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus ...

, the most common cause of severe

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin w ...

in infants. He was awarded the

Sabin Gold Medal Since 1994, the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal has been awarded annually by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in recognition of work in the field of vaccinology or a complementary field. It is in commemoration of the pioneering work of Albert B. Sabin. Rec ...

for his pioneering work on the vaccine. He is the 13th recipient of this recognition, awarded annually by the

Sabin Vaccine Institute Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin), located in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization promoting global vaccine development, availability, and use. Through its work, Sabin hopes to reduce human suffering by preventing the spread of vaccine-pre ...

. Called the father of human gastroenteritis virus research, Kapikian identified the first norovirus, initially called

Norwalk virus Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually devel ...

, in 1972; and he and his colleagues at the National Institutes of Health identified the

hepatitis A virus Hepatitis A is an infectious disease of the liver caused by ''Hepatovirus A'' (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop them ...

in 1973.

Life

Kapikian graduated from

Cornell Medical College The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with N ...

in 1956 and began a career with the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

in 1957. In 1970 he spent six months in the UK where at the suggestion of his boss he studied the techniques of

June Almeida June Dalziel Almeida (5 October 1930 – 1 December 2007) was a Scottish virologist, a pioneer in virus imaging, identification, and diagnosis. Her skills in electron microscopy earned her an international reputation. In 1964, Almeida was rec ...

. Almedia took the first photos of coronavirus using novel techniques. Back in the USA he used these techniques to identify non-bacterial gastroenteritis -

. 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 The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's ...

. Kapikian died on February 24, 2014, at the age of 83.

References

1930 births 2014 deaths American people of Armenian descent Weill Cornell Medical College alumni American virologists Armenian scientists Vaccinologists {{US-med-bio-stub