Margaret Pittman

Dr. Margaret Pittman
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Dr. Margaret Pittman, U.S. National Institute of Health, demonstrates the Flosdorf-Mudd lyophile process which dries cultures of meningitis germs.
Born(1901-01-20)January 20, 1901
Prairie Grove, Arkansas
DiedAugust 19, 1995(1995-08-19) (aged 94)
Cheverly, Maryland
Alma mater
Known for
Vaccine Research

Changes in standards for blood transfusion

First woman to head an NIH laboratory

Scientific career
Fields
  • Bacteriology
  • Vaccine Development
Institutions


Thesis Does Hemophilus influenza cause influenza?  (1928)

Dr. Margaret Jane Pittman (1901–1995) was a pioneering bacteriologist whose research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on typhoid, cholera, and pertussis (whooping cough) helped generate the development of vaccinations against these diseases as well as others.[1] Dr. Pittman was also the first female to lead a NIH laboratory, when in 1957, she was appointed chief of their Laboratory of Bacterial Products, a position she held until 1971.[2] In the 1960s she was a key NIH participant in developing standards for cholera vaccine in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization's campaign to control cholera in the region that is now Bangladesh.[3] After her retirement in 1971, she continued to work for the World Health Organization as a consultant on vaccine standards,[4] working in Cairo and Madrid and for the State Institute for Serum and Vaccine in Iran and Connaught Laboratories, Ltd., in Toronto.[5]

  1. ^ Chung, King-Thom. "Margaret Pittman (1905-1995): Pioneer in Standardization of Biological Products and Studies of Whooping Cough." Women Pioneers of Medical Research: Biographies of 25 Outstanding Scientists. (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010), page 123.
  2. ^ "Early Women Scientists at NIH". Office of NIH History. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. ^ Harden, Dr. Victoria. "Interview with Dr. Pittman in her office at the National Institutes of Health. December 8, 1988" (PDF). Office of NIH History. National Institutes of Health. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Margaret Pittman: Vaccine Standards Pioneer". The NIH Catalyst. National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Program. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ^ Williams, Nancy A. Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000), page 225.