Chester Wilson Emmons | |
|---|---|
 Emmons, 1960 | |
| Born | August 21, 1900 What Cheer, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | August 5, 1985 |
| Education |
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| Known for |
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| Medical career | |
| Profession | Mycologist |
| Field | Infectious diseases |
| Institutions | |
| Sub-specialties | Study of fungi |
| Research | Pathogenic fungi, fungal disease |
Chester Wilson Emmons (August 21, 1900 – August 5, 1985) was an American scientist, who researched fungi that cause diseases. He was the first mycologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where for 31 years he served as head of its Medical Mycology Section.
After studying botany at Penn College and the host-parasite relationship of Ampelomyces quisqualis at Columbia University, he transferred to the School of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico, where he confirmed that Actinomyces bovis is present in the mouths of healthy people. In 1934, back at Columbia, he proposed that some fungi should be defined according to their structure, not the effects of the resulting fungal infection. He was the first to recognise coccidioidomycosis in desert rodents, and he established that soil is a natural reservoir for Histoplasma capsulatum, which flourishes when the soil is supplemented by bird, chicken and bat droppings. He proved an association between Cryptococcus neoformans and pigeon nesting sites, after being the first to isolate the fungus from its natural habitat. Emmons provided early evidence for the effectiveness of amphotericin B in treating of systemic fungal infections. His modified agar medium for fungal culture is sometimes referred to as Sabouraud agar, Emmons. In 1942, Emmons defined a new species Haplosporangium parvum, later reclassified into a separate genus and renamed Emmonsia.
In 1960, as president of the Mycological Society of America (MSA), he made the study of fungi the focus of his presidential address, in an effort to raise the profile of medical mycology. Emmons also taught medical students at George Washington University, and later taught medical mycology to physicians at the NIH's clinical centre. He contributed as an editor to several journals including the American Journal of Epidemiology, Antibiotics and Chemotherapy, Mycopathologia and Mycologia Applicata, Journal of Bacteriology, Mycologia, and Clinical Medicine. Shortly before his death, he had disclosed that he felt his biggest contribution was demonstrating that fungal infections were common and widespread, and that their causal organisms were everywhere.