Australian Dame Jean Macnamara: Google honours work of pioneering polio scientist and doctor
Google is celebrating the life and career of doctor and leading pathologist Dame Jean MacNamara, which was his 121st birthday. In 1925, McNamara's opportunity came when a polio epidemic occurred in Melbourne in the same year, when he graduated from medical school.
Born on 1 April 1899 in Australia, McNamara realize growing up during World War I that she wanted to be "of some use in the world".
For the next six years, McNamara worked as an advisor and medical officer for Victoria's Poliomyelitis Committee, where her focus was, according to Doodle, treating and researching potentially fatal viruses, a particular risk to children.
His research on the disease, in collaboration with future Nobel Laureate Sir Macfarlane Burnet, eventually led to the discovery that there are many strains of polio. This conclusion would be important later when a polio vaccination was developed in 1955.
McNamara's dedication to research on the virus meant that he also incorporated many new methods of treatment and rehabilitation for children over his lifetime, including splints and preventive devices.
His method involved scattering the paralyzed part of the body until the damaged nerve had recovered, and then retraining the muscle, according to a biography of the Australian National University.
A decade after graduating from medical school, McNamara was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1935.
Macnamara treated patients until her death at the age of 69 from cardiovascular disease in 1968.
Google is celebrating the life and career of doctor and leading pathologist Dame Jean MacNamara, which was his 121st birthday. In 1925, McNamara's opportunity came when a polio epidemic occurred in Melbourne in the same year, when he graduated from medical school.
Born on 1 April 1899 in Australia, McNamara realize growing up during World War I that she wanted to be "of some use in the world".
For the next six years, McNamara worked as an advisor and medical officer for Victoria's Poliomyelitis Committee, where her focus was, according to Doodle, treating and researching potentially fatal viruses, a particular risk to children.
His research on the disease, in collaboration with future Nobel Laureate Sir Macfarlane Burnet, eventually led to the discovery that there are many strains of polio. This conclusion would be important later when a polio vaccination was developed in 1955.
McNamara's dedication to research on the virus meant that he also incorporated many new methods of treatment and rehabilitation for children over his lifetime, including splints and preventive devices.
His method involved scattering the paralyzed part of the body until the damaged nerve had recovered, and then retraining the muscle, according to a biography of the Australian National University.
A decade after graduating from medical school, McNamara was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1935.
Macnamara treated patients until her death at the age of 69 from cardiovascular disease in 1968.
