Robert Ellis Shope
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IN MEMORIAM Robert Ellis Shope his own laboratory productive—his national Virus Program in its laborato- research was funded continuously by ry in Belem, Brazil (now the Instituto the National Institutes of Health Evandro Chagas). There he remained (NIH) for 26 years. for 6 years, eventually serving as Arguably, Bob’s most important director of that institute. This was a contribution was his co-chairing, time of great excitement and discov- along with Joshua Lederberg and ery, as many new viruses were being Stanley Oaks, of the Institute of isolated and characterized. In 1965, Medicine Committee on Emerging Bob returned from Brazil to Yale, Microbial Threats to Health. The pro- where most of the senior staff of the ceedings of this committee led to the Rockefeller Foundation’s overseas publication in 1992 of Emerging virus program had relocated and were Infections: Microbial Threats to establishing the Yale Arbovirus Health in the United States (National Research Unit (YARU). Bob 1929–2004 Academy Press). This seminal publi- remained at Yale for 30 years, rising cation, which outlined factors impli- to the rank of professor and director of obert Ellis Shope, one of the cated in the emergence of infectious that research unit. Rworld’s most distinguished diseases and the programs and In 1995, Bob moved to the arbovirologists and a dear friend of resources needed to cope with them, University of Texas Medical Branch many colleagues around the world, initiated much of the current world- in Galveston, where he held several died of complications of idiopathic wide interest in infectious diseases. appointments: professor (Department pulmonary fibrosis in Galveston, He then spent endless days explaining of Pathology, Department of Texas, on January 19, 2004, at age 74. the concepts underpinning the report Microbiology and Immunology, Bob is survived by his wife, Virginia; in order to gain public and political Department of Preventive Medicine his daughters, Deborah Shope and support. His efforts were marked by and Community Health), associate Bonnie (Shope) Rice; his sons, Peter great success, as evidenced by the director of the university’s Center for and Steve; his brothers, Thomas and revitalized state of the infectious dis- Biodefense (and John S. Dunn Richard; his sister, Nancy (Shope) ease sciences today. Distinguished Chair in Biodefense), FitzGerrell; and six grandchildren. Bob was born in Princeton, New and member (Sealy Center for It is difficult to describe Bob’s Jersey, the son of Richard Shope, an Environmental Health & Medicine, many contributions to virology, epi- internationally renowned virologist. Sealy Center for Structural Biology, demiology, tropical medicine, infec- He received BA and MD degrees from and World Health Organization tious disease sciences, vector biology, Cornell University and completed an [WHO] Collaborating Center for and international public health internship in internal medicine at Tropical Diseases). because they are so numerous and Grace-New Haven Hospital (Yale At various times throughout his varied. His lifelong contributions to University School of Medicine). He long career, Bob served as president our understanding of arthropod-borne then spent 3 years in the U.S. Army and councilor, American Society of viruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses, Medical Corps, where he was initially Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; chair and the diseases these viruses cause assigned to Camp Detrick (now the and member, Advisory Council, are without equal. He discovered and U.S. Army Medical Research Institute James A. Baker Institute for Animal characterized more previously for Infectious Diseases) and later to Health, Cornell University; member, unknown viruses than any other per- the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit WHO Expert Panel on Virus Diseases, son in history. Working at various in Kuala Lumpur. The latter experi- and member U.S. Delegation to the times in nearly every country where ence, involving studies on the etiolo- U.S.–Japan Cooperative Medical these viruses and diseases are impor- gy of fevers of unknown origin among Science Program, International tant, he collaborated with virtually British soldiers and the local Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses everyone who has worked in these Malaysian civilian population, had a (ICTV), Armed Forces Epidemiology fields in the past 50 years. Until his profound effect on his subsequent Board, Advisory Board of the Fogarty death, he remained an international research interests and career deci- International Center, National leader in framing the global response sions. After starting a residency in Institutes of Health, Institute of to emerging and reemerging diseases internal medicine at Yale, he left to Medicine Committee on Improving and our national response to bioterror- take a staff position with the Civilian Medical Response to ism, while at the same time keeping Rockefeller Foundation’s Inter- Chemical and Biological Terrorism 762 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 10, No. 4, April 2004 IN MEMORIAM Incidents, Advisory Committee acterized more than 50 tropical the genus Hantavirus, family (American Museum of Natural arboviruses, most of which were new Bunyaviridae, was not isolated until History Infectious Disease Exhi- to science. Several, such as group C 1976). bition), Advisory Panel (National and Guama viruses, caused human In 1977, Bob identified a virus iso- Research Council Program on disease. Not only did he play a role in lated from a mixed pool of midges Strategies to Protect the Health of isolating and characterizing these (culicoids) collected near Darwin, Deployed U.S. Forces), and the agents and their diseases, but his team Australia, and sent to him by Toby St. National Research Council was instrumental in studying and George. Bob identified it as blue- Committee on Climate, Ecosystems, understanding the role of their forest tongue 20 virus, the first bluetongue Infectious Diseases, and Human reservoirs. He refined the capture- virus recognized in Australia. This Health. mark-release-recapture technology discovery caused economic turmoil in Over the years, Bob earned many for rodents, marsupials, and birds, and the Australian livestock industry, but honors, including the Bailey K. applied these methods to the Amazon it was seminal in initiating an inten- Ashford Award from the American fauna. His team also correlated verte- sive research program in that country. Society of Tropical Medicine and brate reservoir ecology with that of That same year, Bob and Jim Meegan Hygiene, the Richard M. Taylor vector mosquitoes. He identified identified Rift Valley fever virus as Award from the American Committee Oropouche virus when the first epi- the cause of a “virgin soil” epidemic of Arthropod-Borne Viruses, and the demic struck the city of Belem. This in Egypt that affected 200,000 people, Walter Reed Medal from the disease has since emerged as a major with more than 600 human deaths, American Society of Tropical scourge, not only in the Brazilian and hundreds of thousands of sheep Medicine and Hygiene. Amazon, but also in cities in Panama and cattle deaths. Also noteworthy is In November 2003, the University and Peru. that in 1977, Bob co-authored the first of Texas Medical Branch celebrated During his early tenure at the Yale description of Lyme disease in the the completion of a biosafety level 4 Arbovirus Research Unit, Bob was United States. This work was done laboratory, the first in the United involved in a collaborative project with Allan Steere, then a young States at an academic institution. In with the Smithsonian Institution and rheumatologist at Yale. Lyme disease Bob’s honor, the laboratory was discovered several new arboviruses was subsequently recognized as the named “The Robert E. Shope, M.D. transported by birds migrating most important tick-borne disease in Laboratory.” Also in his honor, the through the Nile Delta. Then, in 1969, North America. university established the Robert E. Lassa fever and yellow fever emerged Throughout the most recent 20 Shope, M.D. Memorial Fellowship in in Nigeria and occupied his research years, Bob and his colleagues, espe- emerging viral diseases research. for several years. cially Bob Tesh, continued to discov- Bob was first to show that rabies er new, important viruses. These Professional Odyssey virus was related to other viruses (the included Sabiá, the cause of Brazilian Bob’s first assignment with the “rabies-related viruses”); in 1970, hemorrhagic fever, and Guanarito, the Rockefeller Foundation in New York with Fred Murphy and others, he cause of Venezuelan hemorrhagic in 1954 was to study the etiology of characterized Mokola, Lagos bat, and fever. Bob also worked to develop an “epidemic polyarthritis,” a disease Duvenhage viruses, the founding attenuated-live virus vaccine for characterized by fever, arthralgia, and members (along with rabies virus) of dengue and chaired the WHO adviso- rash that occurred mainly during the the genus Lyssavirus, family ry committee on dengue vaccine summer in coastal regions of Rhabdoviridae. In 1971, Bob, Fred development. Australia. In a classic retrospective Murphy, and Ernie Borden character- After moving to the University of serologic investigation, he and S.G. ized many bluetongue-like viruses Texas Medical Branch in 1995, Bob Anderson demonstrated that the dis- and established the genus Orbivirus, embarked on a new phase of his ease was caused by an alphavirus. Ten family Reoviridae. In 1971, Bob career; he and his colleagues initiated