Members in the News - In Memoriam

Andrew Spielman
Andrew Spielman, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health professor, died Dec. 20, 2006, in Boston of an undiagnosed illness at age 76. He was one of the world’s leading experts on insect-borne diseases including malaria, dengue fever and Lyme Disease.

Born and raised in New York, Spielman received his undergraduate degree in zoology from Colorado College in 1952, then earned a doctorate in pathobiology from Johns Hopkins University in 1956. He assisted the Navy with mosquito control issues in Guantanamo, Cuba, before joining the Harvard as an instructor in the Department of Tropical Public Health. When he died, Spielman was professor of tropical health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

He wrote or co-wrote more than 360 publications including the acclaimed 2001 book, "Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe."

His seminal work included investigations into the transmission and impact of eastern equine encephalitis virus, West Nile virus and Lyme disease, including the recognition that the increase in Lyme disease cases was mostly due to an increase in the deer population.

A member of ASTMH, Spielman was awarded the Hoogstraal Medal for outstanding achievement in medical entomology, just one of his numerous international awards and honors over the course of his career.

Spielman was also a faculty associate in the Center for International Development at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and head of the Laboratory of Public Health Entomology. He served on numerous advisory boards, including the U.N. Millennium Task Force for Malaria and the editorial boards of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and Parasitology Research.

Spielman is survived by wife Judy, daughters Deborah and Sue, son David, a brother, five granddaughters and two grandsons.

Brian Duke
Brian Duke, a leading parasitologist, died June 3, 2006, in Lancaster, England at age 79.

Born in Uganda in 1926, Dr. Duke received his undergraduate, MA, MD and ScD degrees from Cambridge University in London. He was admitted to Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of London (MRCP) in 1967 and was elected a Fellow of that college (FRCP) in 1975.

Selected as an honorary ASTMH member in 2003, Dr. Duke received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Buxton Memorial Prize from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1961), the Frederick Murgatroyd Memorial Prize from the Royal College of Physicians of London (1967), the Chalmers Medal from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (1969), and the Frank O'Connor Award for Filariasis (1973). In 2002, Dr. Duke was presented with the first International Mectizan Award by Merck and Company for outstanding contributions to the control of human onchocerciasis.

He was also appointed to Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1961 by Queen Elizabeth II, and promoted in 1975 to the rank of commander for services to the community in Cameroon.

During his 23 years as pathologist-in-charge of the Loiasis Research Scheme at Kumba in the British Cameroons, Dr. Duke developed a research program, initially for loiasis and later for river blindness, which produced many methods still being used today. His seminal work in onchocerciasis research combined disciplines, joined both field and laboratory studies and led to the development of an animal model for the disease.

In 1975, Dr. Duke joined the World Health Organization, and became a tireless advocate for a safe drug to control river blindness. His efforts led to the Mectizan Donation Program, one of the most successful therapeutic programs in recent tropical medicine history.

Jane Wicker Jeffery
Jane Wicker Jeffery, wife of Geoffrey M. Jeffery, former president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and long-time friend of many members of the society, died on November 25, 2006.

Gedelle Brabham Young
Gedelle Brabham Young, wife of the late Martin D. Young, first president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a longtime friend of many members of the society, died on June 6, 2006.

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