Hideyo Noguchi

Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928) was a Japanese physician and bacteriologist known for research on syphilis and for investigating yellow fever. His claim to have identified the yellow fever pathogen was later disproved.

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Simon Flexner: An American physician and pathologist who directed the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research from 1901 to 1935. Flexner recruited Noguchi to the institute in 1904 and supported his research career.
Treponema pallidum: A spiral-shaped bacterium that causes syphilis. Noguchi developed methods for cultivating this organism and studied its biology.
Noguchi's syphilis research: Hideyo Noguchi’s investigations of Treponema pallidum, including its cultivation and presence in nervous tissue. This research became a lasting part of Noguchi’s scientific legacy.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: An annual international award recognizing discoveries in physiology or medicine. Noguchi was nominated repeatedly but never received the prize.
Paul Ehrlich: A German physician and scientist who developed influential methods in immunology, chemotherapy, and staining. Noguchi trained in Ehrlich’s laboratory, where he learned techniques used in his syphilis research.
Syphilis: A sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Noguchi’s research examined the organism responsible for this disease.
Noguchi's yellow fever research: Hideyo Noguchi’s investigations in Ecuador and West Africa into the cause of yellow fever. His proposed bacterial cause was contradicted by later virological evidence.
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research: A biomedical research institute founded in New York in 1901, now known as Rockefeller University. Noguchi conducted much of his influential laboratory research there.
Adolfo Lutz: A Brazilian physician and scientist whose work included tropical medicine and yellow fever. Lutz disputed Noguchi’s claim that yellow fever was caused by a spirochete.
Leptospira interrogans: A pathogenic bacterial species that includes strains causing leptospirosis. Noguchi described a spirochete he named Leptospira icteroides, later associated with leptospirosis rather than yellow fever.