Edwin Dennis Kilbourne (July 10, 1920 – February 21, 2011) was an American research scientist. Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, he received his AB and MD degrees from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. After completion of service in the Medical Corps of the

Army of the United States The Army of the United States is one of the four major service components of the United States Army (the others being the Regular Army, the United States Army Reserve and the Army National Guard of the United States), but it has been inactive si ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he trained in

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

at The Rockefeller Institute. Subsequently, he has taught successively on the faculties of four medical schools: Tulane, Cornell, Mount Sinai (as Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Distinguished Service Professor), and

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro College and University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the School o ...

. (as Research, then Emeritus, Professor). An internationally recognized research scientist who has made significant contributions to the study and prevention of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

and other viral diseases, he developed the first genetically engineered

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

of any kind more than 30 years ago. This method became the standard for optimization of the virus used to produce the influenza vaccines that many of us receive on a yearly basis. Dr Kilbourne is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Career award in 1961 and was given the NIH's Dyer award in 1973. In 1977 he was honored by an invitation to give New York City's Harvey Lecture. In 1983 he received the New York Academy of Medicine Award. As one of the country's leaders in biomedical science during the latter 20th century, Kilbourne was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, the Association of American Physicians and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

. Kilbourne has served on advisory committees to 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 ...

, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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 ...

and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA. In the late 1970s he developed and chaired a series of published workshops on influenza for the NIH. He has also worked with the pharmaceutical industry in the development and trials of a new, experimental influenza vaccine. Kilbourne has also had a lifelong interest in non-scientific writing and has published humorous verses and essays in magazines for the general public. These have been inspired by whimsical news items gleaned from the press - most of them dealing with the often bizarre mating habits of sub-human species. They all meet together in ''Strategies of Sex'', a work of humorous poetry published in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilbourne, Edwin 1920 births 2011 deaths Influenza researchers Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Tulane University faculty Cornell University faculty New York Medical College faculty Weill Cornell Medical College alumni American medical researchers Scientists from New York (state) United States Army personnel of World War II Members of the American Philosophical Society