Description: (Pathologist)
Howard Taylor Ricketts, an American pathologist, conducted groundbreaking research on infectious diseases. He focused on blastomycosis before turning his attention to Rocky Mountain spotted fever, where he identified the tick vector and discovered Rickettsia, the first of the Rickettsiales bacteria. Ricketts was dedicated to his work, going so far as to inject himself with pathogens for study. Tragically, he succumbed to typhus, a disease he was studying. Ricketts's contributions were honored with the naming of Rickettsia rickettsii after him.