Richard P Strong

Richard Pearson Strong (1872–1948) was a pioneering tropical medicine professor at Harvard University, known for his research on diseases such as plague, cholera, and bacillary dysentery. He was the first professor of tropical medicine at Harvard and later contributed to the establishment of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1922. Strong conducted controversial experiments during his tenure, including infecting 24 prisoners in Manila with a contaminated cholera vaccine without their consent, resulting in 13 deaths.

From 1926 to 1927, he led the Harvard Medical African Expedition and co-authored a book based on the expedition’s findings. Strong was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, attended Yale University and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and married Agnes Leas in 1916. He died in Boston on July 4, 1948.

His work and ethical concerns surrounding his experiments have been documented in various sources, including the *Harvard Public Health Alumni Bulletin*, *Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences*, and records held at Harvard Medical Library.