Ruth Nussenzweig (1928-2018) Malaria Vaccine and Immunology Pioneer
In 1967 Ruth Nussenzweig and colleagues at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine reported in Nature that mice could be protected against rodent malaria by immunization with radiation attenuated sporozoites, the malaria parasite life cycle stage that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Until publication of the 1967 paper there was little to no indication or hope that humans could be completely protected against malaria. Inspired by that 1967 report, by 1974 two groups working independently, one including NYU investigators, had shown that humans could be protected by exposure to mosquitoes carrying radiation attenuated Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) sporozoites.
