Maurice Hilleman, Considered Father of Modern Vaccines, Did His Best Work In Montgomery County

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Maurice Ralph Hilleman, who is considered the father of modern vaccines and by some as the greatest scientist of the 20th century, led Merck’s virus and vaccination research programs in West Point near Lansdale for nearly half a century, writes Doug Stewart for Famous Scientists.

Hilleman got his moniker with good reason: he invented eight out of the fourteen vaccines used today in routine vaccination schedules, including those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and chickenpox.

Maurice Ralph Hilleman

Overall, he developed 40 vaccines, sparing countless people permanent disabilities such as blindness.

The vaccines he created may account for as many as 8 million lives saved each year.

We live 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago, largely because of the efforts of Maurice Hilleman.

Hilleman was born in Montana in 1919 to farmer parents. At the time, the influenza pandemic that took 675,000 American lives was still raging. He lost his twin sister on their birthday and his mother two days later. All his life, he felt like he had cheated death.

He graduated from Montana State University at the top of his class with a bachelor’s degree majoring in chemistry and microbiology. He received a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Chicago.

He decided on a career in the industry rather than academic life and devoted his time to researching vaccines, becoming the greatest inventor of vaccines.

Hilleman developed his first one in 1944, working for E. R. Squibb, before moving to the Department of Respiratory Diseases at Army Medical Center in 1948.

In 1957, he was instrumental in identifying a new strain of influenza that had the potential to kill millions of people worldwide. He mass-produced a vaccine within months and distributed it throughout the country.

The widespread vaccination program helped disrupt the spread of the virus and limited the number of deaths nationwide to 69,000 – significantly lower than would have occurred in the absence of his vaccine.

That same year, he moved to West Point. He continued to work for Merck for the rest of his career with unprecedented success.

He came up with a series of highly effective new vaccines that protect people against many dangerous and often deadly diseases, such as meningitis and pneumonia.

He retired at 65 as Merck company policy requires but was immediately rehired as a consultant rather than an employee. He continued working until he died at 85 in Philadelphia.

For his work, he received numerous commendations, including the National Medal of Science in 1988.

Read more about Maurice Hilleman at the Famous Scientists.

A documentary film titled Hilleman: A Perilous Quest to Save the World’s Children, chronicling Hilleman’s life and career, released in 2016 by Medical History Pictures can be watched in its entirety on YouTube.

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