{"id":3015,"date":"2025-05-25T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msd.ch\/en\/?post_type=story&p=3015"},"modified":"2025-05-26T19:18:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T17:18:06","slug":"dr-maurice-hilleman-the-father-of-modern-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.msd.ch\/en\/stories\/dr-maurice-hilleman-the-father-of-modern-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Maurice Hilleman: \u201cThe father of modern vaccines\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Dr. Maurice Hilleman: \u201cThe father of modern vaccines\u201d\n <\/h1>\n <\/div>\n\n
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25.05.2025<\/p>\n

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Vaccines are part of MSD’s history and are closely associated with Dr. Maurice Hilleman (1919-2005), the father of modern vaccine science. During his nearly 30-year career at MSD, he developed more than 40 vaccines for humans and animals. This legacy continues today thanks to our dedicated researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story of modern day vaccines began in 1796 when Dr. Edward Jenner inoculated 8-year-old James Phipps with cowpox as a way to protect him from smallpox. Jenner used the term “vaccination,” “vacca” being Latin for “cow.” In fact, it has been recognized for centuries that some diseases never reinfect a person after recovery. Smallpox was the first disease people tried to prevent by intentionally inoculating themselves with infected matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Edward Jenner inoculating 8-year-old James Phipps with cowpox.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Eight decades after Jenner published his findings, Louis Pasteur developed the first live attenuated bacterial vaccine. Attenuation is a process that weakens the bacteria or virus in a vaccine so it is less likely to cause disease, while still triggering an immune response similar to the natural infection. It would take many more decades for advances in basic and clinical research to make it possible for scientists to understand viruses well enough to begin developing vaccines that help protect against viral diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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