Mellanby, Kenneth

Kenneth Mellanby was born in 1908 and was educated at King’s College, Cambridge, England, and the London School of Tropical Medicine, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. At the time, scabies was widespread in the military, and Mellanby deduced that the purported means of spread were erroneous and quickly demonstrated effective control. This work effectively released the equivalent of an additional two divisions of soldiers from the hospital to aid in the war effort. This work also resulted in publication of two books, “Scabies” (1943) and “Human guinea pigs” (1945). After the war he moved to Nigeria to start a college, and in a few years had a program operational. Mellanby returned to England in 1953, worked on various projects, and eventually assumed the position of Head of Entomology at Rothamsted Experimental Station. However, it was not until 1961, when he was appointed Director of the Nature Conservancy’s Experimental Station at Monk’s Wood did his career again...