Rachel Schneerson

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Rachel Schneerson
Rachel-Schneerson.jpg
Born (1932-04-25) 25 April 1932 (age 92)
Alma mater
  • Haddasah Medical School
Known for
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

Rachel Schneerson (born April 25, 1932) is a former senior investigator in the Laboratory in Developmental and Molecular Immunity and head of the Section on Bacterial Disease Pathogens and Immunity within the Laboratory at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development within the National Institutes of Health. She is best known for her development of the vaccine against bacterial meningitis (Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)) with her colleague John B. Robbins.

Contents

Schneerson received the 1996 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research [1] [2] and the Pasteur Award from the World Health Organization Children's Vaccine Initiative, [3] both with her colleague Robbins. In 1998, she received a Citation Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. [4]

Schneerson retired from federal service in 2012.

Education and early career

Rachel Schneerson was born on April 25, 1932, in Warsaw, Poland. She earned her medical degree from Haddasah Medical School, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, in 1958.

Scheerson did a rotating internship at Tel-Hashomer Government Hospital, Tel-Aviv, Israel, followed by pediatrics residency at Hillel-Jaffe Government Hospital, Hadera, Israel. She then returned to Tel-Hashomer Government Hospital, in Tel-Aviv, for a pediatrics residency and a year as a senior resident in Internal Medicine and Cytogenetics. In 1966, Schneerson was board certified in pediatrics in Israel and became a senior pediatrician at Tel-Hashomer.

In 1969, she came to the United States to be an instructor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Laboratory of Immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she met John B. Robbins. The two became an inseparable research team, “dedicated to developing vaccines to protect children from bacterial diseases.”

Schneerson and Robbins came to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1970 after being recruited by the Institute’s then Scientific Director Charles Lowe. In 1974, the two went to the Division of Bacterial Products, where Robbins was named chief, at the Bureau of Biologics within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Schneerson advanced from a visiting scientist to a senior staff fellow to a supervisory research medical officer during her time in the Division.

Schneerson and Robbins returned to the NICHD in 1983 to head the Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity within the Division of Intramural Research. In 1998, Schneerson and Robbins were named heads of the Section on Bacterial Disease Pathogenesis and Immunity. The two continued leading the lab until their retirement in July 2012.

Notable research

Rachel Schneerson is best known for her work on the vaccine for Haemophilus influenza type b (types are always lowercase in bacteriology)or Hib. Prior to the vaccine’s use, Hib infected 20,000 U.S. children younger than age 5 each year; 5% died of those, and one-third were left with intellectual disability, deafness, or seizures. It was the leading cause of acquired intellectual disability in the United States. [5]

Schneerson and Robbins believed that they could induce immunity by injecting a single antigen—the polysaccharide (sugar) from the surface of the bacteria—into children. Few others believed this process could work because the accepted belief at the time was that proteins, not sugars, were immunogens. Vaccine research at the time focused on using whole bacteria that had been killed, or of weakened bacteria, that could sometimes cause severe side effects.

Studies in animals, adult humans, and children documented that injecting the polysaccharide alone could induce protective levels of antibodies to Hib. Using polysaccharides also eliminated many of the severe side effects of killed-bacteria vaccines. Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases did further vaccine testing. With the added involvement of industry, three Hib-purified polysaccharide vaccines were produced and licensed in 1985.

But among infants, whose immune systems were immature, the level of protection was too low and the vaccine didn’t prevent Hib. In fact, many scientists believed that a polysaccharide-based vaccine would never work because immature defenses of the infant immune system were not savvy enough to detect the polysaccharide and make antibodies.

Schneerson and Robbins tried a new process: They linked the weak polysaccharide to a protein carrier, one that was easily recognized by the immature immune system of infants, in an effort to boost its antigenicity. This novel process—called a “conjugate” vaccine—worked. The conjugate vaccine for Hib produced high antibody levels, well above what was needed for protection, among infants from injections starting at age 2 months and persisting for years beyond. [6]

The vaccine was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and became part of the standard immunization series for infants in 1987. In just a few years, Hib cases fell to fewer than 100 per year, a 99% drop. Most pediatricians trained since 1995 have never seen a Hib case. In countries where the vaccine is used, including the United States, Hib is no longer a cause of acquired intellectual disability. [7] [8] [9]

After the success of the Hib vaccine, Schneerson and Robbins continued their work on single antigens and conjugate vaccines. Their efforts led to the development and licensing of vaccines against pertussis (whooping cough), [10] typhoid, [11] Staphylococcus [12] infections (pneumonia, aureus, [13] and Group B), certain types of malaria, [14] and anthrax. [15] Additional information about their more recent research is available at http://2012annualreport.nichd.nih.gov/pdmi.html.

Schneerson is named on dozens of patents and has authored and co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and several books.

Schneerson retired from the federal government in July 2012.

Professional awards

Related Research Articles

ATC code J07Vaccines is a therapeutic subgroup of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System, a system of alphanumeric codes developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the classification of drugs and other medical products. Subgroup J07 is part of the anatomical group J Antiinfectives for systemic use.

<i>Haemophilus influenzae</i> Species of bacterium

Haemophilus influenzae is a Gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillary, facultatively anaerobic, capnophilic pathogenic bacterium of the family Pasteurellaceae. The bacteria are mesophilic and grow best at temperatures between 35 and 37 °C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacterial pneumonia</span> Disease of the lungs

Bacterial pneumonia is a type of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conjugate vaccine</span> Type of vaccine

A conjugate vaccine is a type of subunit vaccine which combines a weak antigen with a strong antigen as a carrier so that the immune system has a stronger response to the weak antigen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacterial capsule</span> Polysaccharide layer that lies outside the cell envelope in many bacteria

The bacterial capsule is a large structure common to many bacteria. It is a polysaccharide layer that lies outside the cell envelope, and is thus deemed part of the outer envelope of a bacterial cell. It is a well-organized layer, not easily washed off, and it can be the cause of various diseases.

Neal A. Halsey is an American pediatrician, with sub-specialty training in infectious diseases, international health and epidemiology. Halsey is a professor emeritus of international health and director emeritus of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland. He had a joint appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and serves as co-director of the Center for Disease Studies and Control in Guatemala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hattie Alexander</span> American pediatrician and microbiologist

Hattie Elizabeth Alexander was an American pediatrician and microbiologist. She earned her M.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1930 and continued her research and medical career at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Alexander became the lead microbiologist and the head of the bacterial infections program at Columbia-Presbyterian. She occupied many prestigious positions at Columbia University and was well honored even after her death from liver cancer in 1968. Alexander is known for her development of the first effective remedies for Haemophilus influenzae infection, as well as being one of the first scientists to identify and study antibiotic resistance. She has received many awards and honors including the E. Mead Johnson Award in 1942, for her headway in pediatric research and antibiotic resistance. Alexander's research and studies helped lay the ground work for research into antibiotic and vaccine development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hib vaccine</span> Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine

The Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, also known as Hib vaccine, is a vaccine used to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection. In countries that include it as a routine vaccine, rates of severe Hib infections have decreased more than 90%. It has therefore resulted in a decrease in the rate of meningitis, pneumonia, and epiglottitis.

John Bennett Robbins was a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), best known for his contribution to the development of the vaccine against bacterial meningitis Hib)) with his colleague Rachel Schneerson. He conducted research on the Bethesda, Maryland campus of the NIH from 1970 until his retirement at the age of 80 in 2012. During his tenure, he worked in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Food and Drug Administration’s biologics laboratories on location.

Meningococcal vaccine refers to any vaccine used to prevent infection by Neisseria meningitidis. Different versions are effective against some or all of the following types of meningococcus: A, B, C, W-135, and Y. The vaccines are between 85 and 100% effective for at least two years. They result in a decrease in meningitis and sepsis among populations where they are widely used. They are given either by injection into a muscle or just under the skin.

Haemophilus meningitis is a form of bacterial meningitis caused by the Haemophilus influenzae bacteria. It is usually associated with Haemophilus influenzae type b. Meningitis involves the inflammation of the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Haemophilus meningitis is characterized by symptoms including fever, nausea, sensitivity to light, headaches, stiff neck, anorexia, and seizures. Haemophilus meningitis can be deadly, but antibiotics are effective in treating the infection, especially when cases are caught early enough that the inflammation has not done a great deal of damage. Before the introduction of the Hib vaccine in 1985, Haemophilus meningitis was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children under the age of five. However, since the creation of the Hib vaccine, only two in every 100,000 children contract this type of meningitis. Five to ten percent of cases can be fatal, although the average mortality rate in developing nations is seventeen percent, mostly due to lack of access to vaccination as well as lack of access to medical care needed to combat the meningitis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Siber</span> Medical researcher and vaccine expert

George Rainer Siber is a medical researcher and vaccine expert with 49 years of experience in developing numerous vaccines, therapeutic antibodies, and diagnostic agents for infectious diseases.

Porter Warren Anderson Jr. is an American microbiologist best known for developing a vaccine that protects children from infections by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a leading cause of bacterial meningitis and epiglottitis. The techniques he and his colleague Ronald Eby invented were later utilized to develop a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

DTaP-IPV/Hib vaccine is a 5-in-1 combination vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type B.

DPT-Hib vaccine is a combination vaccine whose generic name is diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis vaccine adsorbed with Hib conjugate vaccine, sometimes abbreviated to DPT-Hib. It protects against the infectious diseases diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and Haemophilus influenzae type B.

Haemophilus B and hepatitis B vaccine is a combination vaccine whose generic name is Haemophilus b conjugate and hepatitis B recombinant vaccine. It protects against the infectious diseases Haemophilus influenzae type B and hepatitis B.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexavalent vaccine</span> Single vaccine protecting against six individual diseases

A hexavalent vaccine, or 6-in-1 vaccine, is a combination vaccine with six individual vaccines conjugated into one, intended to protect people from multiple diseases. The term usually refers to the children's vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, haemophilus B, and hepatitis B, which is used in more than 90 countries around the world including in Europe, Canada, Australia, Jordan, and New Zealand.

Janet Gilsdorf is an American pediatric infectious diseases physician, scientist, and writer at the University of Michigan. Her research has focused on the pathogenic, molecular, and epidemiologic features of the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae. She served as the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the University of Michigan Health System from 1989 to 2012 and Co-Director of the Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan from 2000 – 2015. In addition to her scientific publications, she is also the author of two novels, one memoir, one non-fiction book, and a number of medically-oriented essays.

Trudy Virginia Noller Murphy is an American pediatric infectious diseases physician, public health epidemiologist and vaccinologist. During the 1980s and 1990s, she conducted research at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas on three bacterial pathogens: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Murphy's studies advanced understanding of how these organisms spread within communities, particularly among children attending day care centers. Her seminal work on Hib vaccines elucidated the effects of introduction of new Hib vaccines on both bacterial carriage and control of invasive Hib disease. Murphy subsequently joined the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she led multi-disciplinary teams in the Divisions of Epidemiology and Surveillance and The Viral Hepatitis Division. Among her most influential work at CDC was on Rotashield™, which was a newly licensed vaccine designed to prevent severe diarrheal disease caused by rotavirus. Murphy and her colleagues uncovered that the vaccine increased the risk of acute bowel obstruction (intussusception). This finding prompted suspension of the national recommendation to vaccinate children with Rotashield, and led the manufacturer to withdraw the vaccine from the market. For this work Murphy received the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service in 2000, and the publication describing this work was recognized in 2002 by the Charles C. Shepard Science Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dan M. Granoff is an infectious disease physician-scientist who was named the 2014 Maurice Hilleman/Merck Laureate by the American Society for Microbiology for outstanding contributions to vaccine discovery and development. Beginning in 2011, Granoff held the Clorox Foundation Endowed Chair and was director of the Center of Immunobiology and Vaccine Development at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute. His work increased understanding of basic mechanisms of human immunity to encapsulated bacteria, and furthered development of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) and Neisseria meningitidis.

References

  1. 1 2 Hofschneider, Mark. "L-Dopa for treating Parkinson's disease". Lasker Foundation.
  2. ↑ Hilchey, Tim (26 September 1996). "6 Will Receive Awards for Outstanding Research". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 "NICHD Researchers Honored by World Health Organization for Developing Vaccines Against Hemophilus Influenzae".
  4. ↑ "Society Citation Award Winners: Past Winners".
  5. ↑ "NICHD Mission and Scientific Accomplishments: Hemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) Vaccine". 30 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "MEDICAL INNOVATION:HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZA TYPE B (HIB) VACCINE" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Science Heroes". www.scienceheroes.com.
  8. ↑ "Unknown Domain".
  9. ↑ "Lasker Foundation Honors Seven, Presents New Award For First Time". The Scientist Magazine®.
  10. ↑ "New NICHD-Sponsored Pertussis Vaccine Approved". 30 July 1998.
  11. ↑ "First Typhoid Vaccine to Protect Children Proven Effective by NICHD Scientists".
  12. ↑ "Vaccine shows promise against staph infection". Chicago Tribune. 14 February 2002.
  13. ↑ "NICHD Scientists Develop Vaccine Against Deadly Hospital-Acquired Infection".
  14. ↑ "Malaria Vaccine Prompts Victims' Immune System to Eliminate Parasite From Mosquitoes". 18 December 2006.
  15. ↑ "NICHD Congressional Budget Justification 2006" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "Society Citation Award Winners: Past Winners".
  17. ↑ "NICHD Honors Outstanding Scientists During 40th Anniversary Year". 23 September 2003.
External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg NICHD 40th Anniversary Hall of Honor Induction, NIH videocast, September 22, 2003
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Contemporary Clinical Medicine: Great Teachers: Meningococcus Group B Meningitis: An Avoidable Problem, NIH videocast, January 08, 2014
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