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Image depicting Dr Michiaki Takahashi

Dr Michiaki Takahashi: 94th Birthday

Recommended for Middle Grades

 

Dr Michiaki Takahashi- Early Life

Dr Michiaki Takahashi was born in Japan on 17th February 1928. He was a Japanese virologist. He was known for inventing the first chickenpox vaccine.

  • Michiaki Takahashi completed his medical degree from Osaka University in 1954.
  • He joined the Research Institute for Microbial Disease in 1959.
  • He studied the viruses of measles and polio. After that, he accepted a research fellowship in 1963 at Baylor College in the US.
Who is a virologist?

Virologist is a scientist who studies viruses and the diseases that they cause.

The invention of the chickenpox vaccine

Dr Takahashi had seen his elder son suffering from chickenpox. It led him to work towards the development of the vaccine for chickenpox. The research was difficult but it finally finished by 1973.

World Health Organisation(W.H.O) certified the vaccine as the most suitable vaccine for chickenpox in 1984. In 1986, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare also approved it for use in countries around the world.

Due to his innovation of the vaccine, millions of cases of chickenpox are prevented each year.

In 1994, he became the director of Osaka University’s Microbial Disease Study Group. He was given the title Professor Emeritus.

Google doodle celebrating Dr Michiaki Takahashi

Today on the occasion of his 94th birthday, Google has dedicated a Google doodle to Dr Michiaki Takahashi.

The doodle is illustrated by Tokyo-based artist Tatsuro Kiuchi. The doodle shows Dr Michiaki Takahashi doing the research and is curing a child.

Innovations are a part of life. What kind of innovation or discovery you would do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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