Henry Edward Shortt (15 April 1887 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian-born British protozoologist. He was born in

Dhariwal, India Dhariwal is a fifth largest town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district in the state of Punjab, India. Dhariwal was most famous for its woolen mill. This town is situated on the banks of river Upper Bari Duba and is 13 km away from G ...

and educated in Scotland, qualifying as a doctor at Aberdeen University in 1910. In July 1910 he was commissioned into the Indian Medical Service, becoming a Captain in 1913, a Major in 1922 and a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1930. After a short break in England he returned to India and was promoted Colonel in 1941. After the war he returned again to England. During his time in India he was a member and later Director of the

Kala azar Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasi ...

Commission from 1926 to 1933 and Director of the

King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research is a medicine research institute located in Guindy, Chennai, India. It was established on 7 November 1899 with the aim of protecting against scourging infections and was named after Lt. Col. W. ...

, Guindy, Chennai from 1934 to 1938. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1941. On his retirement he was appointed Professor of Medical Protozoology at the University of London. In 1949 he was elected President for two years of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and in 1950 a Fellow of the Royal Society. His work on kala azar (

leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by parasites of the trypanosome genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' and ''Lutzomyia'', and occurs most freq ...

) proved that the disease was transmitted by sandflies and that it could be successfully treated with urea stibamine, an organic antimonial compound. He also investigated the nature of Negri bodies in rabies, the developmental cycle of piroplasma (Babesia canis) in the tick, parasites of monkey malaria, Plasmodium gallinaceum and new species of protozoan parasites of animals. Together with

Cyril Garnham Percy Cyril Claude Garnham Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (15 January 1901 – 25 December 1994), was a British Biology, biologist and parasitologist. On his 90th birthday, he was calle ...

he identified the tissue stage of malaria parasites ( schizonts) in mammals. His son William was also an Army Officer.

Awards

* 1941 Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) * 1959

Manson Medal The Manson Medal (full name Sir Patrick Manson Medal, originally the Manson Memorial Medal), named in honour of Sir Patrick Manson, is the highest accolade the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene awards. Started in 1923, it is awarded tri ...

of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shortt, Henry Edward 1887 births 1987 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen British centenarians Men centenarians 20th-century British medical doctors British parasitologists British epidemiologists Fellows of the Royal Society Indian Medical Service officers Malariologists Manson medal winners Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene British people in colonial India The Darling Foundation Prize laureates