Donald Henderson

{{Infobox scientist

| image = DAHenderson.jpg

| caption = Henderson with his Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2002

|birth_name = Donald Ainslie Henderson

| birth_date = {{birth date |1928|09|07}}

| birth_place = Lakewood, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age |2016|08|19|1928|09|07}}

| death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

| residence =

| field = Epidemiology

| work_institution = World Health Organization
Johns Hopkins University
University of Pittsburgh
UPMC Center for Health Security

| alma_mater = Oberlin College (BA)
University of Rochester (MD)
Johns Hopkins University (MPH)

| doctoral_advisor =

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = Eradicating smallpox

| author_abbreviation_bot =

| author_abbreviation_zoo =

| prizes = {{no wrap|Ernst Jung Prize (1976)}}
Public Welfare Medal (1978)
National Medal of Science (1986)
Japan Prize (1988)
Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal (1994)
Calderone Prize (1999)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2002)}}

Donald Ainslie Henderson (September 7, 1928 – August 19, 2016) was an American physician, educator, and epidemiologist who directed a 10-year international effort (1967–1977) that eradicated smallpox throughout the world and launched international childhood vaccination programs.{{cite AV media| first=Paul |author-link=Paul Sinha |last=Sinha |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |work=Paul Sinha's History Revision |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tfyqj |date=15 June 2017 |access-date=20 June 2017 |type=Radio Broadcast |number=1 |title=Episode 1 (season 3)}} From 1977 to 1990, he was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.[http://www.jhsph.edu/about/history/deans-of-the-school/ Deans of the Bloomberg School. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved September 16, 2015.] Later, he played a leading role in instigating national programs for public health preparedness and response following biological attacks and national disasters.[http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2001/11/d-henderson-direct-new-office-public-health-preparedness D. A. Henderson to Direct New Office of Public Health Preparedness] CIDRAP News. November 6, 2001. Retrieved September 16, 2015. At the time of his death, he was Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Distinguished Scholar at the UPMC Center for Health Security.{{Cite web |url=http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/our-staff/profiles/henderson/index.html |title=Our Staff: D. A. Henderson, MD, MPH. UPMC Center for Health Security. 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015, 2015. |access-date=October 20, 2015 |archive-date=November 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114133155/http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/our-staff/profiles/henderson/index.html |url-status=dead }}Donald Henderson – Faculty Directory | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. {{cite web |url=http://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/3691/donald-henderson |title=Donald Henderson - Faculty Directory | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |access-date=2015-10-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914221242/http://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/3691/donald-henderson |archive-date=2015-09-14 }}. Retrieved September 16, 2015.{{cite journal |last =Breman|first =Joel |title= Donald Ainslie Henderson (1928–2016) Epidemiologist who led the effort to eradicate smallpox |journal= Nature |volume=538|issue=7623 |year= 2016 |pages=42 |doi= 10.1038/538042a |pmid= 27708300|doi-access=free }}

Early life and education

Henderson was born in Ohio.{{cite news|last1=Williams|first1=John|title=D.A. Henderson, the former dean of Bloomberg School of Public Health credited with eradicating smallpox, dies|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bs-md-ob-da-henderson-20160820-story.html |access-date=21 August 2016 |agency=Baltimore Sun |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824112023/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bs-md-ob-da-henderson-20160820-story.html |archive-date=2016-08-24}} His father, David Henderson, was an engineer; his mother, Eleanor McMillan, was a nurse. His interest in medicine was inspired by a Canadian uncle, William McMillan, who was a general practitioner and senior member of the Canadian House of Commons.Henderson, D.A. Smallpox: The Death of a Disease. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2009. p. 21.

File:Smallpox eradication team.jpg

Henderson graduated from Oberlin College in 1950 and received his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1954. He was a resident physician in medicine at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, and, later, a Public Health Service Officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Communicable Disease Center (now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—CDC). He earned an MPH degree in 1960 from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health).

Research and career

=Eradication of smallpox=

Henderson served as Chief of the CDC virus disease surveillance programs from 1960 to 1965, working closely with epidemiologist Alexander Langmuir. During this period, he and his unit developed a proposal for a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program to eliminate smallpox and control measles during a 5-year period in 18 contiguous countries in western and central Africa.{{cite journal | last1 =Henderson | first1 = D | last2 = Klepac | first2 = P | year = 2013 | title = Lessons from the Eradication of Smallpox: An Interview with D. A. Henderson | journal = Philos Trans R Soc B | volume = 368 | issue = 1623| page = 20130113 | doi= 10.1098/rstb.2013.0113| pmid = 23798700 | pmc = 3720050 }} This project was funded by USAID, with field operations beginning in 1967.

The USAID initiative provided an important impetus to a World Health Organization (WHO) program to eradicate smallpox throughout the world within a 10-year period. In 1966, Henderson moved to Geneva to become director of the campaign. At that time, smallpox was occurring widely throughout Brazil and in 30 countries in Africa and South Asia. More than 10 million cases and 2 million deaths were occurring annually. Vaccination brought some control, but the key strategy was "surveillance-containment". This technique entailed rapid reporting of cases from all health units and prompt vaccination of household members and close contacts of confirmed cases. WHO staff and advisors from some 73 countries worked closely with national staff. The last case occurred in Somalia on October 26, 1977, only 10 years after the program began. Three years later, the World Health Assembly recommended that smallpox vaccination could cease. Smallpox is the first human disease ever to be eradicated.[http://www.who.int/topics/smallpox/en/ Health Topics: Smallpox. World Health Organization. 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015] This success gave impetus to WHO's global Expanded Program on Immunization, which targeted other vaccine-preventable diseases, including poliomyelitis, measles, tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough.[https://web.archive.org/web/20131208072315/http://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/en/ Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals: National Programmes and Systems. World Health Organization. 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2015.] Now targeted for eradication are poliomyelitis and Guinea Worm disease; after 25 years, this objective is close to being achieved.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140326175756/http://www.who.int/immunization/programmes_systems/supply_chain/benefits_of_immunization/en/ Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals: The Expanded Programme on Immunization. World Health Organization. 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015.]

=Later work=

From 1977 through August 1990, Henderson was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. After being awarded the 1986 National Medal of Science by Ronald Reagan for his work leading the World Health Organization (WHO) smallpox eradication campaign, Henderson launched a public struggle to reverse the Reagan administration's decision to default on WHO payments.[https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/the-other-time-a-us-president-withhel-who-funds.html The Other Time a U.S. President Withheld WHO Funds. JHSPH. April 21, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2020.] In 1991, he was appointed associate director for life sciences, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President (1991–93) and, later, deputy assistant secretary and senior science advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In 1998, he became the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, now the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Following the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson asked Henderson to assume responsibility for the Office of Public Health Preparedness (later the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response).[http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2001/11/d-henderson-direct-new-office-public-health-preparedness D. A. Henderson to Direct New Office of Public Health Preparedness. CIDRAP News. November 6, 2001. Retrieved September 16, 2015.][https://www.hhs.gov/about/historical-highlights/index.html HHS Historical Highlights. US Department of Health and Human Services. 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2015.]Statement of Tommy G. Thompson: Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services. US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. Washington, DC: Assistant Secretary for Legislation, Department of Health and Human Services; 2015. {{cite web |url=https://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t011115.html |title=Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, HHS |access-date=2017-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104042212/http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t011115.html |archive-date=2016-11-04 }}. Retrieved September 17, 2015. For this purpose, $3 billion was appropriated by Congress.

In 2006, Henderson co-authored a paper in which the authors were skeptical of several potential pandemic measures, including social distancing: "Many could result in significant disruption of the social functioning of communities and result in possibly serious economic problems. Such negative consequences might be worth chancing if there were compelling evidence or reason to believe they would seriously diminish the consequences or spread of a pandemic. However, few analyses have been produced that weigh the hoped-for efficacy of such measures against the potential impacts of large-scale or long-term implementation of these measures."{{Cite journal |last1=Inglesby |first1=Thomas V. |last2=Nuzzo |first2=Jennifer B. |last3=O'Toole |first3=Tara |last4=Henderson |first4=D. A. |date=2006 |title=Disease mitigation measures in the control of pandemic influenza |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17238820/ |journal=Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=366–375 |doi=10.1089/bsp.2006.4.366 |issn=1538-7135 |pmid=17238820}}

At the time of his death, he served as the Editor Emeritus of the academic journal Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science).{{citation |url=http://www.liebertpub.com/editorialboard/health-security/111/ |title= Health Security: Editorial Board |publisher= Mary Ann Liebert Inc. |access-date=22 August 2016}}

=Honors and awards=

1975 – George McDonald Medal, London School of Tropical Medicine{{Cite web |url=http://rstmh.org/awards/previous-medal-winners |title=Previous Medal Winners. Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Retrieved August 24, 2015. |access-date=October 20, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123204106/http://rstmh.org/awards/previous-medal-winners |url-status=dead }}
1978 – Public Welfare Medal, National Academy of Sciences[http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/public-welfare-medal.html Public Welfare Medal. National Academy of Sciences. 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2015.]
1985 – Albert Schweitzer International Prize for Medicine{{citation |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/21/donald-henderson-epidemiologist-who-helped-to-eradicate-smallpox/ |title=Donald Henderson, epidemiologist who helped to eradicate smallpox – obituary |date=21 August 2016 |access-date=22 August 2016|newspaper=The Telegraph }}
1986 – National Medal of Science in Biology[https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.jsp?recip_id=165 The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details – Donald A. Henderson. National Science Foundation. Retrieved August 24, 2015.]
1988 – The Japan Prize, shared with Isao Arita and Frank Fenner[http://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_past_1988_prize02.html Laureates of the Japan Prize: The 1988 (4th) Japan Prize. The Japan Prize Foundation. Retrieved August 24, 2015.]
1990 – Health for All Medal, World Health Organization{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
1993 – Walter Reed Medal, The American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene[https://www.astmh.org/awards-fellowships-medals/awards-and-honors/walter-reed-medal Walter Reed Medal. ASTMH. Retrieved November 15, 2024.]
1994 – Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal, Sabin Foundation{{cite web|title=jThe Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award|website= Sabin Vaccine Institute|year= 2014|url= http://www.sabin.org/sabin-gold-medal-award|accessdate=August 24, 2015}}
1995 – John Stearns Medal, New York Academy of Medicine[http://www.nyam.org/fellows-members/awards.html#stearns Anniversary Discourse & Awards. The New York Academy of Medicine.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219083423/http://www.nyam.org/fellows-members/awards.html |date=2011-02-19 }}. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
1996 – Edward Jenner Medal, Royal Society of Medicine{{cite journal | author = Stanwell-Smith R | year = 1996 | title = Immunization: Celebrating the Past and Injecting the Future | journal = J R Soc Med | volume = 89 | issue = 9| pages = 509–513 | pmc=1295915 | pmid=8949520| doi = 10.1177/014107689608900909 }}
2001 – Clan Henderson Society, Chiefs Order{{Cite web|url=http://www.clanhendersonsociety.org/the-chiefs-order/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009002943/http://www.clanhendersonsociety.org/the-chiefs-order/|url-status=dead|title=The Chiefs Order. Clan Henderson Society. 2013.|archivedate=October 9, 2016}}
2002 – Presidential Medal of Freedom[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020620-16.html President Bush Announced the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. White House Office of the Press Secretary. June 21, 2002. Retrieved August 24, 2015.][https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/09/politics/09CND-MEDA.html Bush Honors 12 with Presidential Medal of Freedom. The New York Times. July 9, 2002. Retrieved August 24, 2015]
2007 – John Snow Society's Pumphandle Lecture{{cite web |title=2007 D A Henderson: Polio Eradication, a reconsideration of strategy |url=https://johnsnowsociety.org/2007/09/09/2007-d-a-henderson-polio-eradication-a-reconsideration-of-strategy/ |website=The John Snow Society |access-date=18 August 2024 |date=9 September 2007}}
2013 – Order of Brilliant Star, with Grand Cordon, Republic of China[http://english.president.gov.tw/Default.aspx?tabid=491&itemid=30401&rmid=2355 President Ma Bestows Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Professor Donald A. Henderson of University of Pittsburgh. Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan). July 4, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2015.]{{Cite web |url=http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/about-the-center/pressroom/press_releases/2013-07-08_Henderson_Award.html |title=Republic of China (Taiwan) Honors D. A. Henderson. UPMC Center for Health Security. July 8, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2015. |access-date=October 20, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304141805/http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/about-the-center/pressroom/press_releases/2013-07-08_Henderson_Award.html |url-status=dead }}
2014 – Prince Mahidol Award, Thailand{{Cite web|url=http://www.princemahidolaward.org/laureate-bio.en.php?type=ind&id=2014-11-06%2015:26:17|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165439/http://www.princemahidolaward.org/laureate-bio.en.php?type=ind&id=2014-11-06%2015:26:17|url-status=dead|title=Biography of Laureate. Prince Mahidol Award Foundation.|archivedate=January 3, 2017}}[http://www.princemahidolaward.org/display-news.en.php?id=2014-11-06%2017:55:27 The Announcement for the Prince Mahidol Award 2014. Prince Mahidol Award Foundation. November 6, 2014.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165206/http://www.princemahidolaward.org/display-news.en.php?id=2014-11-06%2017:55:27 |date=2017-01-03 }}. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
2015 – Charles Merieux Award, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases{{Cite web |url=http://www.nfid.org/awards/merieux |title=Dr. Charles Merieux Award for Achievement in Vaccinology and Immunology. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved August 24, 2015. |access-date=October 20, 2015 |archive-date=June 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606000510/http://www.nfid.org/awards/merieux |url-status=dead }}

Seventeen universities conferred honorary degrees on Henderson.{{citation |url=http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/our-work/events/2016%20Henderson/Press%20Release.html |title=Donald Ainslee Henderson, 1928-2016 |publisher=UPMC Center for Health Security |date=20 August 2016 |access-date=22 August 2016 |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826103523/http://www.upmchealthsecurity.org/our-work/events/2016%20Henderson/Press%20Release.html |url-status=dead }}

=Selected publications=

Fenner F, Henderson DA, Arita I, Jezek Z, Ladnyi. (1988) Smallpox and Its Eradication ({{ISBN|92-41-56110-6}}), Geneva, World Health Organization. The definitive archival history of smallpox.
Henderson DA. (2009) Smallpox, the Death of a Disease ({{ISBN|978-1591027225}}) New York: Prometheus Books
Henderson DA (1993) Surveillance systems and intergovernmental cooperation. In: Morse SS, ed. Emerging Viruses. New York: Oxford University Press: 283–289.
Henderson DA, Borio LL (2005) Bioterrorism: an overview. In Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (Eds. Mandell MD, Bennett JE, Dolin R) Phil, Churchill Livingstone, 3591–3601.
Henderson DA (2010) The global eradication of smallpox: Historical Perspective and Future Prospects in The Global Eradication of Smallpox (Ed: Bhattacharya S, Messenger S) Orient Black Swan, London. 7–35
{{cite journal |vauthors=Henderson DA, Shelokov A |year=1959 |title=Medical progress: Epidemic neuromyasthenia—clinical syndrome |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |volume=260 |issue=15 |pages=757–764, 814–818 |doi=10.1056/NEJM195904092601506 |pmid=13644582}}
{{cite journal |vauthors=Langmuir AD, Henderson DA, Serfling RE |year=1964 |title=The epidemiological basis for the control of influenza |journal=American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=563–571 |doi=10.2105/ajph.54.4.563 |pmid=14136320 |pmc=1254817}}
{{cite journal |vauthors=Neff JM, Lane JM, Pert JH, Moore R, Millar JD, Henderson DA |year=1967 |title=Complications of smallpox vaccination: I. National survey in the United States, 1963 |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |volume=276 |issue=3 |pages=125–132 |doi=10.1056/nejm196701192760301 |pmid=4381041}}
Henderson DA. (1967) Smallpox eradication and measles-control programs in West and Central Africa: Theoretical and practical approaches and problems. Industry and Trop Health VI, 112–120, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
{{cite journal |author=Henderson DA |year=1972 |title=Epidemiology in the global eradication of smallpox |journal=International Journal of Epidemiology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=25–30 |doi=10.1093/ije/1.1.25 |pmid=4669176}}
{{cite journal |author=Henderson DA |year=1975 |title=Smallpox eradication—the final battle (Jenner Lecture) |journal=Journal of Clinical Pathology |volume=28 |issue=11 |pages=843–849 |doi=10.1136/jcp.28.11.843 |pmid=802231 |pmc=475879}}
{{cite journal |author=Henderson DA |year=1976 |title=The eradication of smallpox |journal=Scientific American |volume=235 |issue=4 |pages=25–33 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1076-25 |pmid=788150 |bibcode=1976SciAm.235d..25H}}
{{cite journal |author=Henderson DA |year=1998 |title=The challenge of eradication: lessons from past eradication campaigns (The Pittsfield Lecture) |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/iuatld/ijtld/1998/00000002/a00109s1a/art00003 |journal=The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease |volume=2 |pages=54–58}}
{{Citation |last=Henderson |first=DA |year=1998 |title=The siren song of eradication |journal=Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of London |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=580–84 |doi=10.1016/S0035-8819(25)01808-2 |pmid=9881317 |pmc=9662996}}.
{{cite journal |last=Henderson |first=DA |year=1999 |title=The looming threat of bioterrorism |journal=Science |volume=283 |issue=5406 |pages=1279–82 |doi=10.1126/science.283.5406.1279 |pmid=10037590 |bibcode=1999Sci...283.1279. |citeseerx=10.1.1.597.8970}}
{{cite journal |last1=Henderson |first1=DA |last2=Inglesby |first2=TV |last3=Barlett |first3=JG |year=1999 |title=Smallpox as a biological weapon: medical and public health management |journal=JAMA |volume=281 |issue=22 |pages=2127–37 |doi=10.1001/jama.281.22.2127 |pmid=10367824 |display-authors=etal}}
{{cite journal |last1=O'Toole |first1=T |last2=Henderson |first2=DA |year=2001 |title=A clearly present danger: confronting the threat of bioterrorism |journal=Harvard International Forum |volume=23 |pages=49–53}}

Personal life

Henderson married Nana Irene Bragg in 1951. The couple had a daughter and two sons, whom they raised in Atlanta, Georgia and Geneva, Switzerland. He died at Gilchrist Hospice, Towson, Maryland, at the age of 87, after fracturing his hip.Archives Reference: The Donald A. Henderson Collection in the Institute of the History of Medicine Library at Johns Hopkins spans his career in smallpox eradication, including newspaper articles, honors, biographical material, lecture notes, speeches, and correspondence as well as medals and other awards.