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Period: 500 to Dec 31, 1300
The Middle Ages
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Jan 1, 900
Rhazes
He discovered the difference between smallpox and measles. He found that Measles brought back more anxiety and nausea, while smallpox brought back pain. -
Period: Jan 1, 1301 to
The Renaissance
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Period: to
The Industrial Revolution
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James Lind and scurvy
In the 1700s, scurvy was thought by many to be caused by putrefying foods within the digestive tract, excess work, or a humid atmosphere. James Lind was the first to discover that it was instead caused by the lack of vitamin C by performing experiments involving dietary supplements. -
Edward Jenner and the smallpox vaccine
On May 14th, 1796, Jenner inserted pus taken from Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid with cowpox, into a cut made in the arm of a local boy, James Phipps, successfully making him immune to smallpox. -
Puerperal fever
Oliver Wendell Holmes identifies the cause and prevention of puerperal fever, also known childbed fever. -
Listerine
Joseph Lister created Listerine, which was not known as a mouthwash like it is today, but rather an anesthetic that was used in his surgeries. -
Anesthesia
John Collins Warren, the first dean of Harvard Medical School, provides the first public demonstration of anesthesia in surgery. -
Appendicitis
Reginald Heber Fitz provides the first clinical description of appendicitis; he also advocates performing appendectomies. -
Period: to
The Modern World
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Electrocardiograph
Paul Dudley White introduces the electrocardiograph to the United States. It records the electrical signals in your heart. It's a common test used to detect heart problems and monitor the heart's status in many situations. -
Insulin; founding of Joslin Diabetes Center
Elliott Joslin introduces insulin to the United States and subsequently founds Joslin Diabetes Center. -
Rh Disease
At Boston Children´s, Louis Diamond describes Rh disease, a condition resulting from incompatability of a baby´s blood with the mother´s, and develops a transfusion procedure that replaces the blood of newborns affected by Rh disease. -
Virus Particle Structure
Stephen C. Harrison in the HMS Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology is the first to determine the structure of an intact virus particle, leading to the understanding of the mechanisms of viral entry and assembly. -
PR-39 Molecule
In studies of wound repair, HMS researchers at Boston Children´s find a key molecule, known as PR-39, that binds growth factors and proteins necessary for the mending process. -
Period: to
The 21st Century
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Circadian Clock
Studying a tiny cluster of nerve cells behind the eye, HMS Neurobiology researchers discover a pathway involved in how the brain´s circadian clock sends signals that control the body´s daily rythms. -
Rheumatoid arthritis pathway; C-reactive protein
Researchers at HMS and Joslin identify a pathway linked to the cartilage deterioration and bone attrition of rheumatoid arthritis. -
Blood stem cells; protein transfer
Led by Stuart Orkin, Boston Childrens scientists identify the first regulatory molecule that puts the brakes on the proliferation of blood stem cells and also preserves the integrity of those stem cells, enabling them to produce functional blood cells over a long period of time. -
RIPKI inhibitors; metastatic melanoma remission
HMS Cell Biology researchers discover nectroposis and its inhibition by small-molecule inhibitors of RIPKI, which leads to clinical studies of RIPKI inhibitors as potential therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimers disease. -
Rheumatoid arthritis; precision treatments
Studying cell samples from patients with rheumatoid patients with rheumatoid arthritis at a level of detail not achieved in earlier studies, Brigham and Womens scientists discover a striking subset of T cells that collaborate with other immune cells, a finding that helps illuminate a path toward more precise treatments focused only on the most relevant immune cells.
