Andrew Spielman (24 February 1930 – 20 December 2006) was a prominent
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
public health entomologist and Professor of
Tropical Public Health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at the
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...
(HSPH).
Spielman was a world-renowned expert in the
vector
Vector most often refers to:
*Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
*Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematic ...
-borne illnesses
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
,
Lyme disease
Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...
,
babesiosis
Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or ''Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ti ...
and in the ways in which they are transmitted by
mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
es and
ticks
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
. He was a major figure in the modern history of public health
entomology
Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...
.
Biography
Early life, education and military service
Spielman earned a B.S. from
Colorado College
Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...
and an
Sc. D.
Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
in the malaria lab at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
in 1952, serving thereafter as a public health entomologist in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
(he left the service as a
lieutenant commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
).
Career
Spielman became a member of the faculty at HSPH in 1959, where he divided his time between the lab and the field.
After George Healy, a researcher at the
Centers for Disease Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
, helped diagnose a second case of human babesiosis on
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
in 1973, Spielman traveled to the island for a series of visits to investigate the outbreaks of the disease which usually affects animals, destroying (like its relative malaria) their
red blood cells
Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek language, Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''k ...
.
Although a handful of human cases had been reported worldwide, babesiosis was not previously known as an established human disease. On Nantucket, he trapped
voles
Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...
and
mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
and picked ticks from the animals' hides. He then shifted to laboratory work, successfully infecting
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...
s with the babesia
protozoan
Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...
through the bites of infected deer ticks (''
Ixodes dammini'', a species he named).
By this approach, he was able to identify the tick responsible for what he called “Nantucket fever" (it was not ''Dermacentor variabilis'', the
dog tick, as alleged by other investigators) and to point to the
white-footed mouse
The white-footed mouse (''Peromyscus leucopus'') is a rodent native to North America from Ontario, Quebec, Labrador, and the Maritime Provinces (excluding the island of Newfoundland) to the southwestern United States and Mexico. In the Maritimes, ...
as the pathogen's reservoir. (Later, deer ticks were shown to be the vector of Lyme disease.)
In later years, he was granted an official title of Professor of Tropical Public Health under which he organized numerous symposia and consulted with governments, NGOs and corporations about the control of vector-borne diseases. He headed HSPH's research laboratory of Public Health Entomology and directed a training program in
Emerging Infectious Diseases
''Emerging Infectious Diseases'' (EID) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). EID is a public domain journal and covers global instances of new and reemerging infectious diseas ...
for doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers. At
Harvard Kennedy School
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
, he directed the Malaria Epidemiology Program within the school's Center for International Development.
Personal life
A mosquito expert with a productive career as a tick researcher, Spielman described himself, saying, "I am not a mosquito specialist. I am not a tick specialist. I am a transmission specialist".
Spielman was beloved as mentor to two generations of students and
postdoctoral
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
fellows whom he encouraged in his special brand of combined lab and fieldwork, the latter including a boyish excitement for intrepid adventures such as
spelunking
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...
and climbing cliffs.
Spielman had three children (David, Deborah, and Sue) by his wife Judy; he had seven grandchildren (Madeline, Jacob, and Maya Beeders, Sara, Julia, Samantha, and Alex Spielman) at his death.
Accomplishments and legacy
*Spielman was author of more than 360 publications on the
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
-borne diseases malaria, dengue, babesiosis, Lyme disease,
ehrlichiosis
Ehrlichiosis is a Tick-borne disease, tick-borne
bacterial infection, caused by bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae, genera ''Ehrlichia'' and ''Anaplasma''. These Obligate intracellular parasite, obligate intracellular bacteria infect and kill ...
,
eastern equine encephalitis,
West Nile encephalitis, and
filariasis
Filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by an infection with roundworms of the Filarioidea type. These are spread by blood-feeding insects such as black flies and mosquitoes. They belong to the group of diseases called helminthiases.
These ...
.
**First description of the life cycles and ecology of the agents of human
babesiosis
Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or ''Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via ti ...
and Lyme disease
**Elucidation of the role of
saliva
Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...
and its production in vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes in transmitting diseases
**The first uses of growth regulators to interfere with normal mosquito development to aid mosquito control
**The exploration of the possibility that roosting birds play a key part in perpetuating the viruses that cause
eastern equine encephalitis virus and West Nile
encephalitis
Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...
.
**Led the
Phase II testing of the
SmithKline Beecham
GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...
Lyme disease vaccine among residents of Nantucket,
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
, and
Block Island
Block Island is an island in the U.S. state of Rhode Island located in Block Island Sound approximately south of the mainland and east of Montauk Point, Long Island, New York, named after Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. It is part of Washingt ...
.
''Ixodes dammini''
''Ixodes dammini'', is responsible not only for the emergence of babesiosis in the U.S., but for a whole new group of
tick-borne diseases, the best known of which is Lyme disease.
In 1979, Spielman officially proclaimed the Nantucket version of the deer tick a separate species, naming it ''Ixodes dammini'' after Gustave Dammin, a prominent pathologist at
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts Gener ...
, because he had helped him with the research and was a property owner on Nantucket (Dammin's wife came from one of Nantucket's most prominent families).
Spielman built his case for ''I. dammini'' being a separate species from ''
Ixodes scapularis
''Ixodes scapularis'' is commonly known as the deer tick or black-legged tick (although some people reserve the latter term for ''Ixodes pacificus'', which is found on the west coast of the US), and in some parts of the US as the bear tick. It wa ...
'' on the observations that the two ticks had very distinct ranges (''I. dammini'' in the Northeast, ''I. scapularis'' in the South) and that ''I. dammini'' was morphologically different, especially at the nymphal stage. He also marshaled
DNA evidence to make his case.
Spielman fought a protracted, but probably ultimately losing, battle for ''I. damminis identity as a separate species.
Siding with researchers in Georgia, the editors of the ''
Journal of Medical Entomology
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' officially ruled that,
taxonomically
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
, ''I. dammini'' is identical to ''I. scapularis'' and that the two species should be "synonymized" under ''Ixodes scapularis''. Spielman disagreed, he asserted that maintaining ''I. damminis separate identity is key to understanding the
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
and
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
of tick-borne diseases.
Publications
*Spielman, Andrew and Michael D'Antonio (2001), ''Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe'',
Hyperion.
References
''Harvard University Gazette'' Obituary"Nantucket Fever" in ''Harvard Public Health Review'' at the HSPH website
External links
Video of Andrew Spielman Discussing MalariaFree to view video by the Vega Science Trust.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spielman, Andrew
1930 births
2006 deaths
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni
Harvard University faculty
American entomologists
Lyme disease researchers
Colorado College alumni
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
20th-century American zoologists