Austrian, Robert

▪ 2008

      American physician and educator

born April 12, 1916, Baltimore, Md.

died March 25, 2007 , Philadelphia, Pa.

devoted his life to identifying the various strains associated with pneumococcal infections. At Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y. (now known as SUNY Downstate), he conducted a 10-year (1952–62) groundbreaking study, which found that hundreds of patients had died from pneumonia despite treatment with antibiotics, the standard regimen. His findings led to his development of a vaccine in 1977 that treated antibiotic-resistant strains of pneumonia. In 1983 the vaccine was expanded from 14 serotypes (the most common lethal pneumococcal strains) to 23; by 2007 more than 80 strains were known. When researchers in the U.S. challenged the effectiveness of his vaccine, Austrian led another study (partially financed by the National Institutes of Health); his 1991 rebuttal disproved their contention and documented the vaccine's benefits. Austrian was the recipient in 1978 of the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.

* * *