Albert Calmette
Calmette, Albert (1863-1933), a French bacteriologist, worked to improve public health through research and vaccination programs. He is best known for perfecting a tuberculosis vaccine with his research associate, Camille Guérin.
Calmette was born in Nice, but his family later moved to Brittany. He earned his bachelor's degree at St. Charles College in 1881 and then entered the Naval Medical College in Brest. As part of his training, he traveled to the Far East to learn about diseases. He received his medical degree from the University of Paris in 1886.
In December 1890, at the request of Louis Pasteur, Calmette traveled to Saigon, French Indochina (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), to establish the first Pasteur Institute outside France. In two years, he produced enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate 500,000 people. He also developed a rabies vaccine, researched snake bites, and produced a serum against cobra venom.
Calmette returned to France in 1893. He helped establish the Pasteur Institute in Lille and served as its director from 1896 to 1919. While at Lille, he continued researching snake venoms and serums and focused on public-health issues. He also studied tuberculosis with his associate, Camille Guérin.
Robert Koch had discovered the bacterium that caused tuberculosis in 1842. Operating on the theory that injecting weakened bacteria could cause the body to build defenses against the disease, Calmette and Guérin weakened a strain of bacteria that causes tuberculosis in cows. The vaccine they developed, BCG, had its first clinical trials in 1922. BCG, short for bacillus Calmette-Guérin, generally has a better success rate in children than adults. It is used in areas of the world with high rates of tuberculosis.
In 1917, Calmette was named assistant director of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He remained there until his death.