Henry Eigelsbach Dies: Renowned Fort Detrick Microbiologist, Infectious Disease Researcher, Educator: Dr. Henry T. Eigelsbach, 100, a microbiologist who made significant contributions to studies on microbial pathogenicity, immunological response and prophylaxis (vaccine protection) of infectious diseases, died of natural causes at his home in Boca Raton, FL on December 6. “His contribution to tularemia vaccines, which began at the outset of his scientific career and remained a lifelong passion, is recognized around the world,” said Dr. Stephen Prior former president of DynPort, LLC. “Dr. Eigelsbach is acknowledged as a global ambassador for science, and as a pathfinder in medical research focused on the protection of humans from infectious diseases.” Dr. Eigelsbach was one of the pioneers of microbiology at a time when the knowledge of infectious diseases was just beginning to pay dividends in terms of medical products, and when scientists enjoyed few of the research tools that are now commonplace in medical research, according to Prior. In 1958, at the height of the Cold War, Dr. Eigelsbach was a member of the team at Fort Detrick who reached out to their Soviet counterparts to obtain a vaccine strain for tularemia. Amazingly, they succeeded. “The vaccine strain, and the path-finding work that Dr. Eigelsbach subsequently led remains the key to current research to develop vaccines against tularemia,” Prior added. During a career spanning nearly 60 years, Dr. Eigelsbach was the author of more than 50 papers published in recognized research journals, and seven book chapters, including in Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology and The Manual of Clinical Microbiology. He also delivered dozens of presentations at national professional meetings that established him as an international authority on tularemia, the field in which his research concentrated. He was a Charter Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and Diplomat of the American Board of Microbiology. He was the Frederick, Maryland Branch president of the Scientific Research Society of America. In 1962, following publication (with Cora Downs) of his seminal work on a protective tularemia vaccine, Dr. Eigelsbach’s research was recognized with the highest award at the Army Service Conference in West Point, N.Y. Then, in 1968 he was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Award – one of the highest recognition's given by the U.S. Department of Defense – for the development of an effective tularemia vaccine. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and ultimately achieved the rank of Commander in the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps (Reserves). In 1944, he was assigned to a laboratory at Camp Detrick, which later became the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD, where he continued his research work and led key studies on infectious diseases until his retirement in 1975. Following his retirement as medical microbiologist at Fort Detrick, he served as consultant for the national drug company Aries, the Salk Institute, and DynPort. His work with DynPort led to the advanced development and large-scale production of tularemia vaccine. From 1975 to 1981, Dr. Eigelsbach was a professor of biology at Western Maryland University. He mentored many students who went on to pursue careers in science, drawing on his own educational experiences to provide support and guidance for his students. A 1937 graduate of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL, the village of his birth, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1941 at Purdue University, a Master of Science in 1943 at the University of Kentucky, and was awarded his doctorate by The University of Cincinnati in 1947. Though Dr. Eigelsbach spent much of his adult life in Frederick, Maryland, he and his wife Jane “Betty” Payne Eigelsbach relocated to Boca Raton, FL in 1995. Mrs. Eigelsbach died in 2000. Henry T. Eigelsbach, beloved husband of the late Jane “Betty” (nee Payne), loving father of JoAnn, Lynn Marie Eigelsbach Goodman (Arnold) and his son,Thomas, cherished grandfather of Lynne and Mark VanBuskirk, and fond great-grandfather of Henry and James. A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Jude Church, Boca Raton on December 28 at 10 am. A memorial mass and internment at St. Joseph’s on Carrolton Manor, Buckeystown, MD will take place in the spring. In place of flowers, gifts in his memory may be made to the Fenwick High School STEM Studies Program, 505 Washington Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60302.