John R. La Montagne, who helped direct infectious disease research and vaccine development at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for nearly 30 years, died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism in Mexico City on November 2. He was 61.
La Montagne was a gifted leader and prescient thinker concerned with emerging infectious disease and global public health long before either became "fashionable," NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told
Trained as a microbiologist, La Montagne helped steer the US public health apparatus through some of its most turbulent times, orchestrating the development and licensing of a safer pertussis vaccine, leading NIAID's response to the emerging AIDS crisis, and organizing a research response to severe acute respiratory syndrome within months of the first outbreak. He played key roles in ...
