Paul Roberts Cannon

Paul Roberts Cannon (25 August 1892 – 7 September 1986) was an American physician and medical professor. He was a pioneer in the study of nutritional effects on immune response.

Education Cannon completed his undergraduate education at Millikin University, graduating in 1915. His training was interrupted by World War I, during which he spent two years as a lieutenant with the US Army Sanitary Corps. After the war, he studied bacteriology at the University of Chicago, receiving his doctorate in 1921. He spent two years as a professor of pathology and bacteriology at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, before returning to Chicago to enroll at Rush Medical College, where he earned his MD in 1926 while holding a professorship at the University of Chicago. He was mentored by the eminent pathologist and immunologist Harry Gideon Wells.

Awards and honors Cannon's research earned him a number of awards over the course of his career. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1946. He was awarded the Gold-Headed Cane Award in 1965, the highest honor bestowed by the American Society for Investigative Pathology.

Cannon served as president of the American Association of Immunologists for 1941–1942.