ST. LOUIS, MO, November 20, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Memory Patience Fredrika Elvin-Lewis, PhD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Elvin-Lewis celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Vitae: Dr Elvin-Lewis was born on May 20, 1933 in Vancouver, B.C. Canada to Richard James Elvin, MD and May Winnifred neé Foster. In 1957 she married Walter Hepworth Lewis and has 2 children, Memoria F.R.M. Lewis (born 1960) and Walter H. Lewis, Jr (born 1965) and 3 grandchildren, Florence A.M.K. and Lilian M. C. F. Morse and Leander B. Lewis. She is a dual Canadian and American citizen.
Education: BA, University of British Columbia (1952); Medical Technology certifications RT (Canada) (1953) and MT (ASCP) (1954) Shaughnessy Military Hospital, Vancouver BC;MSc (Medical Microbiology), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (1957); MSc (Virology and Epidemiology), Baylor School of Medicine, Houston (1960); PhD (Medical microbiology), University of Leeds, Yorkshire, England (1966).
Professional achievements: First women to be President of the Microbiology sections of the American Association of Dental Schools (1973-74) and the International Association of Dental Research (1982-83). Lifetime memberships: Asian Federation of Clinical Pharmacognosists (1989); International Society of Herbal Medicine (India) 1995), International Association of Dental Research (1996).
Notable Awards: Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (1995); Fellow of the International Society of Herbal Medicine (India), (1995);Silver Medal, "Primio Martin de la Cruz, Mexican Academy of Traditional Medicine (2001); D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) Andrews University (2003); Distinguished Economic Botanist, Society of Economic Botany (2006); Dr. E..K. Janaki Ammal Gold Medal, Society of Ethnobotanist, India (2008); D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) and Alumni Award of Distinction, University of British Columbia (2012) Rosa memoryae Lewis (first new North American rose in over 100 years) (2016); Banner Recipient, City of Guelph honoring 30 Canadian women scientists who have made significant contributions to Canada's scientific community (2019).
Dr. Elvin-Lewis is an educator and prominent infectious disease microbiologist and ethnobotanist who in her career has contributed to the medical, dental and botanical professions in various ways. She spent 53 years as an academic at Washington University in St. Louis first teaching in the School of Botany as a lecturer and Assistant Professor (1965-67); as an Assistant, Associate and Professor of Microbiology in the School of Dental Medicine (1968-91); Adjunct Professor of Biology from 1967-2018; Professor of Microbiology and Ethnobotany in Biomedicine 1991- 2018 and retiring with this title as an Emerita Professor in 2018. In 2015 she became a Faculty Scholar in the Institute for Public Health.
Her publications reflect her eclectic career and include those in microbiology, virology, medical/dental microbiology including Chlamydia, epidemiology, ethnobotany, botany, pharmacognosy, safety issues of herbal remedies including ethnobotanical responsibilities and legal aspects of traditional knowledge associated with benefit sharing. She has co-authored books in Dental Microbiology and has been a contributing author in her areas of expertise in numerous others. Her most significant work was the book Medical Botany, Plants Affecting Man's Health that she co-authored with her botanist husband, Dr. Walter H. Lewis. In 1977 it was the first of its kind by using a format of internal medicine and separating chapters into those that were injurious, remedial and psychoactive. The first edition became a popular award-winning text and reference book worldwide as has the larger second edition published in 2003.
In her early career she was senior author on 3 noteworthy papers in microbiology and virology. The first, in 1960, established the enterovirus ECHO 11 as a cause of aseptic meningitis. The second published in 1973 described studies she conducted along with attending physicians and pathologists to understand the complex condition of a young teenage boy who died of lymphedema and lymphangiosarcoma in 1969. Through studies during his lifetime and when he died it was concluded that his Chlamydia infection of Lymphogranuloma venereum and a localized and disseminated form of Kaposi's Sarcoma was responsible for his clinical outcome. The presence of these diseases was not fully understood at the time, particularly within his age group and where he lived. Believing that an underlying virus infection might be responsible for his compromised immune system she saved specimens for future analysis. This insight proved correct when it was found almost 2 decades later that they contained markers of a tertiary infection of HIV presumed to be a lost clade closely related, but not identical to 1IB/LA1. Giving further credence to the value of this case has been the recent upsurge in coinfections of HIV and Lymphogranuloma venereum worldwide. This case of Robert Rayford, is considered to be the first documented case of HIV/AIDS in North America and has been widely reported in the media. The third, published in 1982, traced an outbreak of rubella among dental students and their families. This study conducted with medical school colleagues indicated it was necessary to prevent its further spread throughout the medical community. Not only was a widespread immunization program established but to avert serious fetal conditions, including Down's Syndrome, the dental clinics were closed to pregnant women for six weeks.
As an ethnobotanist Elvin-Lewis's pioneering research in plant uses in folk dental practices has provided valuable insights into their worth and she is regarded as a world expert in this field. From these studies she evolved a quantitative approach to ethnobotanical field research called ethno-dental/medical focusing which proved that the most popular remedy was also likely to be the most bioactive and efficacious. The technique involves using large informant data bases to correlate preferences and knowledge of numerous plant remedies with clinical and laboratory data. Her collaborative studies on plants used for teeth cleaning in Ghana and elsewhere, to blacken teeth and treat hepatitis in Peruvian Amazonia are examples of how this technique was applied.
Often in collaboration with her ethnobotanist husband, Walter H. Lewis, she has conducted botanical and ethnobotanical fieldwork throughout the world. Significant among these were joint studies, conducted in the 1980's and 1990's, with national and international scientists to establish the ethnomedical inventories of botanical remedies used by Amazonian people. When the information was not in the public domain they complied with evolving policies and laws related to the collection and protection of traditional knowledge by utilizing proprietary data bases so that equitable benefit-sharing might be achieved. They identified the therapeutic basis of well-known plants used as a stimulant, a parturition aid and for wound healing. By applying their concept of phylogenetic amplification in the ICBG-Peru Project, they were able to expand their search for novel bioreactive compounds in related plants as well as identifying associated infectious diseases which might share cross-sensitivities to those used in pharmacological screenings. Numerous plant remedies used to treat malaria and others potentially valuable in the treatment of tuberculosis and other protozoan, viral and bacterial infections were identified by this process. Their work in the 1980's was the subject of a National Geographic Explorer documentary filmed in 1988 called "Secrets of the Rain Forest".
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Memory Patience Fredrika Elvin-Lewis, PhD, has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
About Marquis Who's Who®
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
# # #