Paul A. Lewis

Paul Adin Lewis (1879-1929) was an American pathologist and associate member of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. He was best known for his work in viral and bacterial pathology.[1]

Paul Adin Lewis
Born(1879-04-14)April 14, 1879
Chicago, Illinois, USA
DiedJune 30, 1929(1929-06-30) (aged 50)
Bahia, Brazil
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, University of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
FieldsPathology, bacteriology, virology
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
Rockefeller University

Life

Lewis was born in Chicago and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the eldest son of Dr. Clinton H. Lewis, a practicing physician. Lewis's sister, Dr. Marian Lewis, also practiced medicine in Milwaukee.Lewis married Louise Durbin in 1906. They had two children, Hobart and Janet.[2]

Education and career

After attending the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Lewis went on to earn his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1904. While still an undergraduate, he chose to pursue a career as a laboratory scientist and never practiced medicine.[2]

Following stints at Boston City Hospital, the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Harvard University, and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, Lewis became laboratory director at the Henry Phipps Institute and professor of experimental pathology at the University of Pennsylvania (1910-1923). He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve (1917-1921), attaining the rank of commander, and served during the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic.[3] Lewis rejoined the Rockefeller Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1923 and worked in the department of animal pathology until his death six years later.[4]

Scientific contributions

From his graduation in 1904 to his death in 1929, Lewis published 78 articles on topics such as anaphylaxis, poliomyelitis, chemotherapy, and tuberculosis.[3]With Simon Flexner in 1910, Lewis discovered via a series of experiments that poliomyelitis is caused by a virus, the virus can be transmitted between monkeys, and exposure makes survivors immune to reinfection. These discoveries helped pave the way for development of a polio vaccine in 1955.[5]With Richard E. Shope in 1931, Lewis discovered an influenza A virus that could infect both pigs and humans. This virus turned deadly when mixed with Haemophilus influenzae, illuminating the origins of the Spanish flu.[6] Lewis's later work centered on tuberculosis, heredity, and allergies in guinea pigs.[2]Lewis served as director of the National Tuberculosis Association[3] and member of the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists, Association of American Physicians, and American Association for the Advancement of Science.[4]

Death

Lewis died of yellow fever in Bahia, Brazil, while investigating the disease under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation's International Health Board.[2] A telegram reporting his death to the Foundation noted that Lewis probably contracted yellow fever through a laboratory infection. Lewis's untimely death inspired some of the details of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.[7]Lewis is interred at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin. The Lewis Playfield in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood is named in his honor.[8]

References
  1. The Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report (PDF). New York: Rockefeller Foundation. 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  2. Flexner, Simon (1929). "Paul Adin Lewis". Science. 70 (1806): 133–134. Bibcode:1929Sci....70..133F. doi:10.1126/science.70.1806.133. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1654523.
  3. "Paul A. Lewis, 1879-1929". American Review of Tuberculosis. 21 (5): 587–592. 1930-05-01. doi:10.1164/art.1930.21.5.587. ISSN 0096-0381.
  4. "Paul A. Lewis papers, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research Scientific Staff (FA175) - Biographical/Historical Note". Rockefeller Archive Center. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  5. Corner, George W (1965). A history of the Rockefeller Institute, 1901-1953 origins and growth. New York: Rockefeller Institute Press. pp. 81–82. OCLC 598049893.
  6. Van Epps, Heather L. (2006-04-17). "Influenza: exposing the true killer". The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 203 (4): 803. doi:10.1084/jem.2034fta. ISSN 0022-1007. PMC 2118275. PMID 16685764.
  7. Barry, John M (2018). The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-303649-4. OCLC 1056196005.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. Passante, Anna (2011-06-30). "Dr. Lewis — Pathologist gave life working to save lives : The Bay View Compass". Bay View Compass. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
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