Albert Zaven Kapikian (1930–2014) was an Armenian-American virologist who developed the first licensed

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 verifi ...

against

rotavirus Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhea, diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus at least once by the age of five. Immunity (medical), Immunity develops with ...

, the most common cause of severe

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

in infants. He was awarded the Sabin Gold Medal for his pioneering work on the vaccine. He is the 13th recipient of this recognition, awarded annually by the

Sabin Vaccine Institute Sabin Vaccine Institute ( ), located in Washington, D.C., is a global nonprofit organization that advances vaccine development for unmet medical needs and expands immunization coverage by strengthening vaccine access and acceptance. In partnersh ...

. Called the father of human gastroenteritis virus research, Kapikian identified the first norovirus, initially called

Norwalk virus Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus and sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may ...

, in 1972; and he and his colleagues at the National Institutes of Health identified the

hepatitis A virus Hepatitis A is an infectious liver disease caused by Hepatitis A virus (HAV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Many cases have few or no symptoms, especially in the young. The time between infection and symptoms, in those who develop them, is ...

in 1973.

Life

Kapikian graduated from

Cornell Medical College Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...

in 1956 and began a career with the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

in 1957. In 1970 he spent six months in the UK where at the suggestion of his boss he studied the techniques of

June Almeida June Dalziel Almeida (5 October 1930 – 1 December 2007) was a Scottish virologist, a pioneer in virus imaging and identification. Her skills in electron microscopy earned her an international reputation. In 1964, Almeida was recruited by St ...

. Almedia took the first photos of

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

using novel techniques. Back in the USA he used these techniques to identify non-bacterial gastroenteritis -

. He was chief of the epidemiology section of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases at NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a position he held for 45 years. In 1998 he was appointed deputy director of the

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. NIAID's mis ...

. Kapikian died on February 24, 2014, at the age of 83.

References

1930 births 2014 deaths American people of Armenian descent Weill Cornell Medical College alumni American virologists 20th-century Armenian scientists Vaccinologists {{US-med-bio-stub