description Frederick Robbins Overview
Frederick Robbins was an American pediatrician and virologist who played a critical role in the mid-20th-century effort to combat poliomyelitis. Working with John Enders and Thomas Weller at Boston Children's Hospital, he developed a laboratory technique to successfully grow the poliovirus in cultures of non-nervous tissue. This 1954 Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough solved a major obstacle that had previously limited virology research and paved the way for the development of effective polio vaccines. Robbins later served as the dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
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Frederick Robbins ranks #45 of 150 in the Physician ranking, behind Harold Varmus, ahead of Alfred Blalock.
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What did Frederick Robbins win the 1954 Nobel Prize for?
Frederick Robbins shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with John Enders and Thomas Weller for their discovery that the poliovirus could be grown in cultures of non-nervous tissue cells. This breakthrough made mass production of the virus possible, which was essential for the development of the polio vaccines by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin.
Why was growing poliovirus outside the nervous system such an important breakthrough?
Before the Enders-Weller-Robbins work, poliovirus could only be cultivated in live monkey nerve tissue, making it practically impossible to produce enough virus for a vaccine. Their discovery in 1949 that poliovirus would multiply in ordinary human and monkey tissue cultures, including skin and muscle cells, opened the door to large-scale vaccine manufacturing.
Where did Frederick Robbins conduct his poliovirus research?
Robbins carried out this research at Boston Children's Hospital in the laboratory of John Enders, alongside Thomas Weller. The trio published their landmark findings in the journal Science in 1949, while all three were based at the Research Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital in Boston.
What role did Frederick Robbins play later in his medical career?
Robbins went on to become dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, where he served for many years and also contributed to medical education reform. He later chaired the Institute of Medicine committee that produced influential reports on HIV/AIDS policy in the United States.
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