Isabel Merrick Morgan, PhD

Born: August 20, 1911
Died: August 18, 1996

Major Contribution:

Morgan's team successfully inoculated monkeys with a killed-virurs vaccine. From 1945-50, her work at Johns Hopkins defined the level of circulating antibodies needed in the blood stream to protect monkeys from an intracerebral challenge from the poliovirus. Her experiments advanced the knowledge needed to develop a viable vaccine.

Other Information:

Brief Biography: Isabel Morgan was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the daughter of two accomplished biologists, Thomas Hunt Morgan (who won a Nobel Prize in 1933) and Lilian Vaughan Samson.

Receiving her A.B. from Stanford University in 1932, she pursued her interest in bacteriology and received an M.A. from Cornell University in 1936 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pensylvannia in 1938. She joined the Rockefeller Institute that year and worked with Peter Olitsky, a pioneer in virus research. 1944, she joined David Bodian's poliomyelitis laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Morgan left polio research to marry Joesph Mountain in 1944. She died at age 85.

Location of papers:
Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
5801 Smith Avenue, Suite 235
Baltimore, Maryland 21209
410-735-6788; 410-735-6770 fax

The Peter K. Olitsky papers at the American Philosophical Society contain correspondence with Morgan.

Description of papers: The unprocessed collection of the Isabel Morgan papers in the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives (0.25 linear feet) consist mainly of reprints of her published articles and little correspondence. The collection contains two volumes of her publications, as well as unbound reprints and a biographical sketch. The collection is strong in her research on poliomyelitis and the immunization of monkeys against the disease. Additional information on her role in the fight against polio can be found in the David A. Bodian Collection.

Photo Gallery at The Caltech Institute Archives.

Major Articles: Isabel Merrick Morgan, PhD

Articles found at HighWire Press® Stanford University (*Asterisk denotes article is free of subscription fee.)

A Stable Hemolysin-Leucocidin And Its Crystal-Line Derivative Isolated From Beta Hemolytic Streptococci. * E. J. Czarnetzky, Isabel M. Morgan, and Stuart Mudd. J. Exp. Med., Apr 1938; 67: 643 - 657.

The Antigenic Structure of Hemolytic Streptococci of Lancefield Group A. Stuart Mudd, Horace Pettit, David B. Lackman, and Isabel M. Morgan. J. Immunol., May 1939; 36: 381 - 383.

A Study of Immunity in Rabbits from Two to Three Years After Infection with Vaccine Virus with Attempts to Recover Active Virus.* Isabel M. Morgan and Peter K. Olitsky. J. Immunol., Jul 1940; 39: 1 - 15.

Influence Of Age On Susceptibility And On Immune Response Of Mice To Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus.* Isabel M. Morgan. J. Exp. Med., Aug 1941; 74: 115 - 132.

Immune Response of Mice to Active Virus and to Formalin-Inactivated Virus of Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis. Isabel M. Morgan and Peter K. Olitsky. J. Immunol., Dec 1941; 42: 445 - 454.

Induced Resistance Of The Central Nervous System To Experimental Infection With Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus: I. Neutralizing Antibody In The Central Nervous System In Relation To Cerebral Resistance.* Isabel M. Morgan, R. Walter Schlesinger, and Peter K. Olitsky. J. Exp. Med., Oct 1942; 76: 357 - 369.

Induced Resistance Of The Central Nervous System To Experimental Infection With Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus: Ii. Serotherapy In Western Virus Infection.* Peter K. Olitsky, R. Walter Schlesinger, and Isabel M. Morgan. J. Exp. Med., Apr 1943; 77: 359 - 374.

Transmission To Rodents Of Lansing Type Poliomyelitis Virus Originating In The Middle East. R. Walter Schlesinger, Isabel M. Morgan, And Peter K. Olitsky. Science, Nov 1943; 98: 452 - 454.

Induced Resistance Of The Central Nervous System To Experimental Infection With Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus: Iii. Abortive Infection With Western Virus And Subsequent Interference With The Action Of Heterologous Viruses.* R. Walter Schlesinger, Peter K. Olitsky, and Isabel M. Morgan. J. Exp. Med., Sep 1944; 80: 197 - 211.

Quantitative Study Of The Neutrlization Of Westernern Equine Encephaalomyelitis Virus By Its Antiserum And The Effect Of Complement. Isabel M. Morgan. J. Immunol., Jun 1945; 50: 359 - 371.

Allergic Encephalomyelitis In Monkeys In Response To Injection Of Normal Monkey Nervous Tissue.* Isabel M. Morgan. J. Exp. Med., Jan 1947; 85: 131 - 140.

The Role Of Antibody In Experimental Poliomyelitis: I. Reproducibility Of Endpoint In A Mouse Neutralization Test With Lansing Poliomyelitis Virus. Isabel M. Morgan. Am. J. Epidemiol., May 1947; 45: 372 - 378.

The Role Of Antibody In Experimental Poliomyelitis: Ii. Production Of Intracerebral Immunity In Monkeys By Vaccination. Isabel M. Morgan, Howard A. Howe, and David Bodian. Am. J. Epidemiol., May 1947; 45: 379 - 389.

The Role Of Antibody In Experimental Poliomyelitis: Iii. Distribution Of Antibody In And Out Of The Central Nervous System In Paralyzed Monkeys. Isabel M. Morgan. Am. J. Epidemiol., May 1947; 45: 390 - 400.

Immunization Of Monkeys With Formalin-Inactivated Poliomyelitis Viruses. Isabel M. Morgan. Am. J. Epidemiol., Nov 1948; 48: 394 - 406.

Differentiation Of Types Of Poliomyelitis Viruses: Ii. By Reciprocal Vaccination-Immunity Experiments. Isabel M. Morgan. Am. J. Epidemiol., Mar 1949; 49: 225 - 233.

Differentiation Of Types Of Poliomyelitis Viruses: Iii. The Grouping Of Fourteen Strains Into Three Basic. Immunological Types. David Bodian, Isabel M. Morgan, and Howard A. Howe. Am. J. Epidemiol., Mar 1949; 49: 234 - 247.

Level Of Serum Antibody Associated With Intracerebral Immunity In Monkeys Vaccinated With Lansing Poliomyelitis Virus. Isabel M. Morgan. J. Immunol., Jul 1949; 62: 301 - 310.

Subclinical Poliomyelitis In The Chimpanzee And Its Relation To Alimentary Reinfection. Howard A. Howe, David Bodian, and Isabel M. Morgan. Am. J. Epidemiol., Jan 1950; 51: 85 - 108.

Articles Found at ScienceDirect.com

Mechanism of immunity in poliomyelitis and its bearing on differentiation of types. Isabel M. Morgan. The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 6, Issue 5, May 1949, Pages 556-562.

Production of poliomyelitis virus with combined antigenic characteristics of type I and type II. Katherine Sprunt, Isabel Morgan Mountain, Winifred M. Redman and Hattie E. Alexander. Virology, Volume 1, Issue 2, July 1955, Pages 236-249.

From WorldCat™

The accessory factor present in chest fluid which participates in transformation in vitro of pneumococcus type II R to III S. Isabel Merrick Morgan. Ithaca, NY. 1936 Located at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Histopathological changes produced in rabbits by experimental inoculation with hemolytic streptococci and certain of their component factors. Isabel Merrick Morgan; Lawrence W Smith; Stuart Mudd.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1938. Philadelphia, 1940. Located at Michigan State University Libraries, E Lansing, Michigan,; Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio; Library of Congress, Washington,; Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,; University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Article found at JSTOR

An Introduction to Thomas Hunt Morgan and Lilian Vaughan Morgan. Isabel Morgan Mountain. American Zoologist , Vol. 23, No. 4, The Place of Thomas Hunt Morgan in American Biology. (1983), pp. 825-827.

Articles from other website locations

Antibody Production by Spleen in Vitro; II. Correlation of Qeight of Rabbit, Qeight of Spleen, and Level of Antibody Produced in Vitro1. The Journal of Immunology, 1955, 74: 278-280. Copyright © 1955 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/74/4/278; http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/4/825

Infectivity Of Ribonucleic Acid From Poliovirus In Human Cell Monolayers. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 108, 493-506, Copyright, 1958, by The Rockefeller Institute; http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/abstract/108/4/493

Polio—An American Story: The Crusade That Mobilized the Nation Against the 20th Century's Most Feared Disease. Siegel. JAMA, 2005; 294: 1277-1278.

Key word suggestions for additional publication searches: poliovirus, digestive tract, immunity, immune response, poliomyelitis.