The Harry M. Rose Memorial Lecture in Infectious Diseases
This lecture is part of an annual tribute to Harry M. Rose, a former Chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology.
Dr. Rose began his career in the Department of Medicine at Columbia University, where he and his colleagues developed the first reliable test for rheumatoid arthritis, which became known as the Rose-Waaler or Waaler-Rose test. He became Chair of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in 1952. At the time, it was known as the Department of Bacteriology, but Dr. Rose had the name changed to the Department of Microbiology to better encompass other research in the department.
Harry placed great emphasis on teaching, and would learn the name and face every graduate and medical student in his classes, even large classes with over 100 students. As a result, he was fondly remembered by many of his former students.
Dr. Rose was also an accomplished researcher, and in addition to his work on rheumatoid arthritis, carried out pioneering studies in antibiotic mechanisms and virology, including making contributions to the development of influenza vaccines. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Immunology, and was a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American Medical Association as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rose's contributions to research and medicine were recognized by the Gairdner International Award, an Award of Distinction from Cornell University, the Gorgas Medial, and the Squibb award from the Infectious Disease Society. After retiring as Chair in 1973 and moving to New Hampshire, Dr. Rose recertified as a Diplomate in Internal Medicine in 1977, and continued to practice medicine until 1984.
After his death in 1986, the Department of Microbiology & Immunology established The Harry M. Rose Memorial Lecture in Infectious Diseases with the Department of Medicine. This was made possible by donations from many of Dr. Rose's former students and colleagues, and by the generous assistance of the family of Dr. Rose.
Rose Memorial Lectures
Year Lecture Title Speaker
1988 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the Pathogenesis of AIDS J.A. Levy
1989 Non A - Non B Hepatitis Virus (Hepatitis C Virus): Recent Advances Robert H. Purcell
1990 Vaccination for Influzenza - Can We Improve on Natural Immunity? Edwin D. Kilbourne
1991 Infectious and Genetic Prion Diseases of Humans and Animals Stanley B. Prusiner (1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine)
1992 Visiting and Being Revisited by Mycobacteria Barry R. Bloom
1993 Vaccination with DNA: Induction of Heterologous and Homologous Protection Against Influenza A Margaret A. Liu
1995 Molecular Identification of a Newly Emerging Infectious Disease: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Stuart T. Nichol
1995 Immune Stimulation by Sequence-Specific Bacterial DNA: Protection and Pathogenesis Arthur M. Krieg
1996 HIV Entry Cofactors: The Chemokine Receptor Connection Edward A. Berger
1998 The Genome Project: From Microbes to Man J. Craig Venter
1999 Basic Studies of RNase P and their Application to Problems of Antibiotic Resistance and Viral Infection Sidney Altman (1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
2000 Pathogenic Fiber Formation in Bacteria: Structure, Function and Role in Diseases of the Urinary Tract Scott Hultgren
2001 Drosophila Host Defense: A Model for the Study of Innate Immunity Jules A. Hoffmann (2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine)
2002 Nods: Regulating the Host Response to Pathogens and Susceptibility to Crohn's Disease Gabriel Nunez
2003 Working Towards an AIDS Vaccines Harriet L. Robinson
2005 Strategies for Control of Influenza by Targeting Broadly Conserved Viral Sequences Suzanne L. Epstein
2007 The Silent Treatment: Delivering RNA Interference Judy Lieberman
2010 Pandemic Influenza Viruses: Past and Future Peter Palese
2012 Waltz or Rave: How Injected, Polymorphic Proteins Dramatically Influence Toxoplasma's Dance with its Host John Boothroyd
2014 Sirtuins are Viral Restriction Factors Thomas E. Shenk
2018 Why So Many Ways to Die? The Non-canonical Inflammasome Pathway Vishva Dixit
2020 Diverse nucleotide signals in bacteria: a language of love and hate John J. Mekalanos
2022 Malaria parasite effector proteins: export and function Daniel Goldberg