August von Wassermann AKA August Paul von Wassermann Born: 21-Feb-1866 Birthplace: Bamberg, Germany Died: 16-Mar-1925 Location of death: Berlin, Germany Cause of death: Kidney failure
Gender: Male Religion: Jewish Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Biologist, Doctor Nationality: Germany Executive summary: Syphilis test Military service: German Army (military doctor, WWI) In 1906, physician August von Wassermann adapted Jules Bordet's complement-fixation reaction to develop what is now called the Wassermann test, a blood-serum reaction that detects antibodies to Treponema pallidum, causative agent for syphilis. It accurately indicated presence of the dreaded sexually transmitted disease, a potentially lethal condition which can have a very long latency period with no discernable symptoms. The test has been modified and improved in the century since, but the basic principles of the Wassermann reaction remain unchanged. Wassermann also researched cholera, tetanus, and cerebrospinal fever, and developed a test for tuberculosis and an antitoxin against diphtheria. He studied under Paul Ehrlich, who later developed the first effective therapy for syphilis, and he worked under bacteriologist Robert Koch, who determined the cause of tuberculosis. Father: Angelo Wassermann (banker) Mother: Dora Bauer Wassermann Wife: Alice von Taussig (m. 1895, two sons)
High School: Bamberg Gymnasium, Bamberg, Germany University: University of Erlangen University: University of Munich University: University of Vienna Medical School: MD, University of Strasbourg (1888) Teacher: Humboldt University, Berlin (1891-98) Professor: Humboldt University, Berlin (1898-1913) Scholar: Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, Berlin, Germany (1891-1913) Director: Experimental Therapy, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Berlin, Germany (1913-25)
Aronson Foundation Prize 1921
Academy for Knowledge of Judaism President
Berlin Medical Society
Free Association for Microbiology
International Congress of Hygiene and Demography
Director of the Office of Hygiene and Bacteriology (Prussian gov't)
Bavarian Ancestry
German Ancestry
Jewish Ancestry
Author of books:
Handbuch der Pathogenen Mikroorganismen (Handbook of Pathogenic Microorganisms) (1903, with Wilhelm Kolle; six volumes) Die Bedeutung der Bakterien fur die Gesundheitspflege (The Importance of Bacteria in Health Care) (1905)
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