Dorland J. Davis

Dorland Jones Davis (July 2, 1911 – April 11, 1990) was an American physician, commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). He was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1964 to 1975.

Early life and education Davis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 2, 1911. His father was a professor of pathology at the University of Illinois school of medicine. Davis attended the International School, Geneva, Switzerland, 1927–1928. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 1933, an M.D. degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1937, and a DrPH. degree from Johns Hopkins in 1940.

Career Davis completed his medical internship at the Baltimore City Hospital before enrolling in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health for his DrPH (Doctor of Public Health) doctorate. After taking the competitive exam to enter the Public Health Service (PHS), he was one of 20 applicants out of 120, to be offered a commission in the PHS. His first assignment was the Division of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health (NIH), where he studied Chagas disease, an infection by the parasite trypanosome cruzi then prevalent in Central and South America. Davis developed an antigen-based diagnostic test for the disease. He became a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) in 1939 and was assigned to the Division of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health. In 1943, he served State Department in North Africa as a member of a medical team investigating endemic diseases, particularly malaria and typhus. Davis advanced through grades of PHS to assistant surgical general.