Jean Broadhurst

Jean Alice Broadhurst (29 December 1873 – 4 September 1954) was an American educator, botanist and bacteriologist, known for her work in detecting the measles virus.

Career Broadhurst graduated from New Jersey State Normal School in 1892; thereafter joining the school's faculty. She studied at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City; taught in the department of botany and zoology at Barnard College; and in 1906 joined the Teachers College, Columbia University faculty. Broadhurst earned her Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1914, and retired as emerita professor at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1939.

Measles detection

In November 1937, after more than a year of research, Broadhurst announced the discovery of a method of detecting the measles virus before the appearance of the characteristic rash. Utilising the dye nigrosin, Broadhurst and her team succeeded in staining and therefore making visible the inclusion bodies in the virus. Nose and throat specimens from over 160 measles cases were used in the study, which was described in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.