Charles Wardell Stiles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Wardell Stiles {1867-1941) was an American parasitologist born in Spring Valley, New York, who studied medical zoology in Europe. He taught medical zoology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Georgetown University. He also worked as a zoologist for the U.S. government at the Bureau of Animal Industry in the Department of Agriculture (1891-1902), and was later chief zoologist at the Hygienic Laboratory of the US Public Health and Marine Hospital Service (1902-1931). He also helped establish the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease.
Stiles is famous for his work involving parasitic diseases such as trichinosis and hookworm, the latter the cause of "progressive pernicious anemia". While working at the Department of Agriculture, he identified a new species of hookworm called Necator americanus. In the early 20th century he was scientific advisor to the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission. Here he worked on a campaign to eradicate hookworm, especially in the American South. He also dealt with health and sanitation issues regarding mining and cotton mill workers. Stiles was secretary of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, a group involved in setting standards regarding zoological classifications.
Partial Bibliography:
- Index-Catalog of Medical and Veterinary Zoology (1902–20)
- The Sanitary Privy: Its Purpose and Construction
- Applied Microscopy and American Pork Diplomacy: Charles Wardell Stiles in Germany (1898-1899).
