Hinton, William Augustus
1883-1959 · Contribution: 1927-1949
Bacteriology, pathology, and public health; developed the Hinton test (1927) — a more accurate, inexpensive blood-serum (flocculation) test for syphilis — and, with J.A.V. Davies, the Davies-Hinton test; authored the first medical textbook published by an African American ('Syphilis and Its Treatment,' 1936)
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Impact on the world
His syphilis test was adopted by the U.S. Public Health Service (1934) and reduced false positives; in 1949 he became the first African American professor in Harvard University's history (Clinical Professor of Bacteriology and Immunology).
Life & background
African-American bacteriologist and pathologist born Dec 15, 1883 in Chicago to formerly enslaved parents; MD with honors, Harvard Medical School (1912). Chief of the Wassermann Laboratory (Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health) and longtime Harvard faculty; trained women as lab technicians. Died Aug 8, 1959.
Sources
- Harvard Medical School; Encyclopedia.com; EPIC (University of Toronto)
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