Medical Discovery News, June 20, 2009
This week's radio broadcast focused on the naming of Hansen's disease, more commonly known as leprosy. In the late 19th century, the Norwegian physician, Gerhard Armauer Hansen first collected leprosy samples, although he was unable to identify them as bacteria. Six years later, a German colleague, Albert Neisser, was able to identify the samples as bacteria and quickly published his findings. Neisser claimed to be the true discoverer of the bacteria. Hansen countered angrily and, at a conference on leprosy, the decision was made to name the disease after Hansen. Medical Discovery News, hosted by UTMB's Norbert Herzog and David Niesel, is broadcast by nearly 100 stations in the U.S. and Mexico. Locally, you can hear the program at 10 a.m. on Saturdays on KUHT, 88.7 FM and KTSU, 90.9 FM.