Public Health Heroes Awards Ceremony

Karl M. Johnson, M.D., studied botany at Oberlin College and medicine at the University of Rochester. Two years of training in internal medicine at Columbia University were succeeded by a soft landing in the laboratory of Robert Chanock at the National Institutes of Health. After researching the emerging swarm of viruses causing acute respiratory disease (parainfluenza 4, five rhinoviruses, Coxackie A21), he took his leave from Bethesda to work in a small NIH field laboratory in the Panama Canal Zone. From that base he became intimately acquainted with the first of several new agents causing hemorrhagic fever, Machupo virus, from the Ilanos of eastern Bolivia.

Working on Machupo virus with Fred Murphy at the CDC, their team described a new virus family designated the Arenaviridae. Subsequent adventures in Africa and Korea were mounted from CDC, where Dr. Johnson established the laboratory of "Special Pathogens." This rock-turning in far places eventually led to the description of another new virus family and a unique genus; the Filoviridae (Ebola and Marburg viruses) and the hantaviruses.

Beyond discovery and description of new zoonotic viruses, Dr. Johnson has worked on the epidemiology and experimental therapy of several of these agents. Retired from active research, he is adjunct professor of biology and medicine at the University of New Mexico, where he assists in developing an integrated research program comprising both laboratory and field studies of pathogenic hantaviruses of the Americas.

Award Presenter

Dr. Johnson is being introduced by one of his contemporaries, who is also a former dean of Berkeley's School of Public Health and a respected member of the school's emeriti faculty, Professor William C. Reeves, Ph.D. Over the course of his highly successful career, which spans more than half a century, Professor Reeves has focused his research primarily on the epidemiology and control of vector-borne diseases, such as mosquito-borne viral encephalitides.

The Challenge: New & Reemerging Infectious Diseases

They can strike anywhere, anytime – in a local restaurant, on a cruise ship, in a grassy field or at the hospital you entered to get well. And anyone can be a carrier: the stranger coughing in the next seat on the plane, the college classmate just returned from a trip abroad, even a significant other you thought you knew. In fact, wherever we go and whatever we do, we are accosted by invaders from an unseen world. Protozoans, bacteria, viruses – a whole menagerie of microscopic pests – constantly assault every part of the human body. Many are harmless or easy to fight off. Others are incurable killers.

With the widespread use of antibiotics in the years following World War II, many began to think the war against infectious diseases was nearly won. Today, however, the battle continues. With over three dozen newly identified threats – of which AIDS is just one – and a startling resurgence of decades-old strains such as tuberculosis and whooping cough, infectious diseases remain the world's leading cause of death, killing an estimated 20 million people annually.

The School of Public Health Responds

For more than 50 years, the School of Public Health has built a strong record of excellence in the study of infectious diseases, including such early highlights as the pioneering research of coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) by the late Charles E. Smith, and landmark work by Professor Bill Reeves on the surveillance, prevention, and control of arborvirus disease.

Infectious disease-related research by current faculty includes work by Lee Riley, M.D., who has synthesized the protein that helps the tuberculosis bacteria gain entry into human cells, a technique that could improve the efficacy of vaccine delivery. In addition, Dr. Riley was among the first scientists to recognize, study, and offer preventive measures to address the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in hospitals.

Other efforts include work by Eva Harris, Ph.D., and her colleagues, who have developed simplified PCR (polymerase chain reaction) procedures that are easily and inexpensively used in the field to identify such infectious agents as the Leishmania parasite and dengue virus, the current focus of Professor Harris's research. The Chlamydia Genome Project, headed by Professor Richard Stephens, successfully sequenced the genome for Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacterium that causes both chlamydial genital tract infectious, which are sexually transmitted, and trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness. To aid in the development of effective vaccines for diseases such as tuberculosis and AIDS, Daniel Portnoy, Ph.D., is studying the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular pathogen that interacts with the human immune system in ways similar to HIV, while Fenyong Liu, Ph.D., studies the biology and therapeutic intervention of the human herpesviruses infection, specifically focusing on the functions of viral genes in pathogenesis to identifying new viral targets for antiviral drug development. The research of Gertrude Buehring, Ph.D., focuses on the role of bovine leukemia virus in the etiology of breast cancer.

In addition, a number of the School's epidemiologists specialize in the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases, outbreak investigation, and disease surveillance.

	2001 International Hero Karl M. Johnson, M.D. Adjunct Professor of Biology and Medicine University of New Mexico	Other 2001 Heroes National H. Jack Geiger, M.D., M.Sci. Hyg. Regional Billie Weiss, M.P.H. Organizational San Francisco Department of Public Health
2001 International Hero - Karl M. Johnson, M.D. Karl M. Johnson, M.D., studied botany at Oberlin College and medicine at the University of Rochester. Two years of training in internal medicine at Columbia University were succeeded by a soft landing in the laboratory of Robert Chanock at the National Institutes of Health. After researching the emerging swarm of viruses causing acute respiratory disease (parainfluenza 4, five rhinoviruses, Coxackie A21), he took his leave from Bethesda to work in a small NIH field laboratory in the Panama Canal Zone. From that base he became intimately acquainted with the first of several new agents causing hemorrhagic fever, Machupo virus, from the Ilanos of eastern Bolivia. Working on Machupo virus with Fred Murphy at the CDC, their team described a new virus family designated the Arenaviridae. Subsequent adventures in Africa and Korea were mounted from CDC, where Dr. Johnson established the laboratory of "Special Pathogens." This rock-turning in far places eventually led to the description of another new virus family and a unique genus; the Filoviridae (Ebola and Marburg viruses) and the hantaviruses. Beyond discovery and description of new zoonotic viruses, Dr. Johnson has worked on the epidemiology and experimental therapy of several of these agents. Retired from active research, he is adjunct professor of biology and medicine at the University of New Mexico, where he assists in developing an integrated research program comprising both laboratory and field studies of pathogenic hantaviruses of the Americas. Award Presenter Dr. Johnson is being introduced by one of his contemporaries, who is also a former dean of Berkeley's School of Public Health and a respected member of the school's emeriti faculty, Professor William C. Reeves, Ph.D. Over the course of his highly successful career, which spans more than half a century, Professor Reeves has focused his research primarily on the epidemiology and control of vector-borne diseases, such as mosquito-borne viral encephalitides. The Challenge: New & Reemerging Infectious Diseases They can strike anywhere, anytime – in a local restaurant, on a cruise ship, in a grassy field or at the hospital you entered to get well. And anyone can be a carrier: the stranger coughing in the next seat on the plane, the college classmate just returned from a trip abroad, even a significant other you thought you knew. In fact, wherever we go and whatever we do, we are accosted by invaders from an unseen world. Protozoans, bacteria, viruses – a whole menagerie of microscopic pests – constantly assault every part of the human body. Many are harmless or easy to fight off. Others are incurable killers. With the widespread use of antibiotics in the years following World War II, many began to think the war against infectious diseases was nearly won. Today, however, the battle continues. With over three dozen newly identified threats – of which AIDS is just one – and a startling resurgence of decades-old strains such as tuberculosis and whooping cough, infectious diseases remain the world's leading cause of death, killing an estimated 20 million people annually. The School of Public Health Responds For more than 50 years, the School of Public Health has built a strong record of excellence in the study of infectious diseases, including such early highlights as the pioneering research of coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) by the late Charles E. Smith, and landmark work by Professor Bill Reeves on the surveillance, prevention, and control of arborvirus disease. Infectious disease-related research by current faculty includes work by Lee Riley, M.D., who has synthesized the protein that helps the tuberculosis bacteria gain entry into human cells, a technique that could improve the efficacy of vaccine delivery. In addition, Dr. Riley was among the first scientists to recognize, study, and offer preventive measures to address the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in hospitals. Other efforts include work by Eva Harris, Ph.D., and her colleagues, who have developed simplified PCR (polymerase chain reaction) procedures that are easily and inexpensively used in the field to identify such infectious agents as the Leishmania parasite and dengue virus, the current focus of Professor Harris's research. The Chlamydia Genome Project, headed by Professor Richard Stephens, successfully sequenced the genome for Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacterium that causes both chlamydial genital tract infectious, which are sexually transmitted, and trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness. To aid in the development of effective vaccines for diseases such as tuberculosis and AIDS, Daniel Portnoy, Ph.D., is studying the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, an intracellular pathogen that interacts with the human immune system in ways similar to HIV, while Fenyong Liu, Ph.D., studies the biology and therapeutic intervention of the human herpesviruses infection, specifically focusing on the functions of viral genes in pathogenesis to identifying new viral targets for antiviral drug development. The research of Gertrude Buehring, Ph.D., focuses on the role of bovine leukemia virus in the etiology of breast cancer. In addition, a number of the School's epidemiologists specialize in the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases, outbreak investigation, and disease surveillance.