Manuel Augusto Pirajá da Silva (28 January 1873 – 1 March 1961) was a Brazilian

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

er, and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Biography

He graduated from the Bahia School of Medicine (now part of the

Federal University of Bahia The Federal University of Bahia ( pt, Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA) is a public university located mainly in the city of Salvador. It is the largest university in the state of Bahia and one of Brazil's most prestigious educational institu ...

) in 1896, and in 1908 was responsible for the identification and complete description of the pathogenic agent and the pathophysiological cycle of

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody s ...

disease.

Legacy

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of venomous snake, ''

Bothrops pirajai :''Common names: Piraja's lancehead.Campbell JA, William Wylly Lamar, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates. 870 pp., 1,500 plates. .'' ''Bothrops pirajai'' is a s ...

'', is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Piraja", p. 208).

References

Brazilian parasitologists 1873 births 1961 deaths {{Brazil-med-bio-stub