Josephine Bicknell Neal

Josephine Bicknell Neal (1880–1955) was an American physician known for her work in the field of encephalitis and infantile paralysis.

Biography Neal was born on October 10, 1880, in Belmont, Maine. She attended Bates College and Cornell University Medical College.

Neal held various positions throughout her career. She was a teacher in Maine until she earned enough money to pay for medical school. She worked as a researcher in the subject of meningitis for New York City Department of Health. She was a physician specializing in pediatric tuberculosis at the Vanderbilt Clinic (part of Columbia University Irving Medical Center). Neal served on the International Commission for the Study of Infantile Paralysis. In reviewing Encephalitis: A Clinical Study, Time magazine referred to the U.S.'s No. 1 encephalitis specialist, Dr. Josephine Bicknell Neal of New York City's Health Department. In 1934 she was a volunteer for a test vaccine for polio.