Timeline of Maassab's Work

Timeline of the work of Hunein "John" Maassab, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, and inventor of FluMist:

• Earned his bachelor's degree in biology from University of Missouri in 1950, and received his master's in physiology and pharmacology from University of Missouri in 1952.
• Arrived at University of Michigan in 1952 to begin his master of public health program, and completed that in 1954. Maassab described U-M as "a mecca for medical doctors who wanted to go into public health." U-M was also center for virus-related research, thanks to the presence of renowned virologist Thomas Francis Jr.
• In 1954, began work on a PhD in epidemiological sciences and became both a University of Michigan Scholar and U-M Fellow that same year.
• Was a research assistant to Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., who was both founder of U-M's epidemiology department and a mentor to Jonas Salk during Salk's work at U-M. Francis is credited with first isolating flu virus and with developing the first killed virus flu vaccine, and is perhaps best known as the scientist who announced to the world that the Jonas Salk polio vaccine was safe and effective.
• Attended 1955 announcement of the Salk polio vaccine in U-M's Rackham Auditorium. As a student, he recorded some of the trial data from the polio vaccine trials.
• Completed his doctoral work 1956, having done his dissertation on influenza. He was inspired by his mentor, Thomas Francis Jr., who had overseen the U.S. Army's flu vaccine program during World War II. In addition, Maassab said his influenza research was motivated by what is known as the Spanish flu of 1918 that killed more than 20 million people. "Mortality and morbidity with flu is usually associated with older individuals, but with the 1918 pandemic of swine flu, the virus was exceptionally virulent, and in addition to killing the elderly, it caused the death of many young people. The pandemic was responsible for the death of 20 million individuals -- in fact, more U.S. troops died from the disease than perished in World War I. And interestingly enough, to this day, there is no explanation for the particular virulence of this virus," Maassab said.
• Began as an assistant in research at University of Michigan's Department of Epidemiology in 1956, then became a research associate in 1957, an assistant professor in 1960, an associate professor in 1965 and a full professor in 1973. He served as epidemiology chairman 1991-1997. Maassab recently retired as a professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health.
• Isolated the influenza type A-Ann Arbor virus in 1960, and by 1967, developed a cold-adapted virus that bred well in nasal passages and did not mutate to more dangerous forms.
• Developed the second cold-adapted influenza virus. The first was isolated in 1957 in Leningrad, and although Type-A Leningrad virus has been used in vaccine in Russia, these vaccines do not meet the FDA's testing requirements and are not available in the U.S.
• In 1967, published a landmark paper in the journal Nature describing the adaptation of an influenza virus for growth at a low temperature in culture.
• From 1975 to 1993, Maassab collaborated with Brian Murphy, a research scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on live, attenuated virus research. They made 40 or 50 different cold-adapted viruses and determined the genetic basis of attenuation in the influenza A strain.
• Though the 1980s, Maassab and colleagues continued to work on various aspects of flu vaccine research -- applying genetic recombinant technology to produce different types of cold-adapted and wild strains of the influenza virus. The 1967 paper spoke to the influenza A strain, and after that, he still needed to develop a B strain, as well as to find the technology to re-engineer new vaccine lots with each year's flu strain. He continued to work into the late 1990s to learn more about the molecular basis of the attenuation of cold-adapted viruses.
• Named a visiting fellow by University of Cambridge, England, in 1983, and visiting scientist, U.S.-U.S.S.R Biomedical Research Collaboration Program, Institute of Experimental Medicine in Leningrad, in 1986.
• Wyeth-Ayerst and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease signed a cooperative research and development agreement in 1991 to develop Maassab's live-attenuated, cold-adapted, intranasal-delivered influenza vaccine. That same year, Wyeth-Ayerst completed a licensing agreement, which has since been terminated, with U-M for commercial use of Maassab's master vaccine strain.
• In 1993, Kaketsuken Laboratories in Japan completed a licensing agreement with U-M to allow use of the master strain of the vaccine in Japan, although that agreement has since been terminated, as well.
• Mountain View, Calif.-based Aviron, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in disease prevention, was awarded a cooperative research and development agreement in 1995 from NIH to continue clinical development of Maassab's vaccine through Phase III clinical trials. At the same time, Aviron completed a license with U-M for use of the master vaccine strain. By this time, the vaccine had been tested in more than 7,000 people aged two months to 103 years.
• In 1996, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease announced it would test Maassab's vaccine in a Phase III trial in 900 children. Later that year, Vaccine Weekly reported the cold-adapted influenza vaccine resulted in 85 percent protection rate against laboratory-documented illness, compared to 71 percent protection rate with commonly used inactivated influenza vaccine.
• NAIAD and Aviron announced the initial results of Phase III trials (which studied 1,602 children in 10 clinical sites across the nation) in 1997. In 1998, New England Journal of Medicine reported the nasal flu vaccine provided 93 percent protection against influenza and 98 percent protection against a common complication of the flu, otitis media, in children.
• Received the 1997 Award for Science and Technology from Popular Science for the development of the cold-adapted influenza virus.
• In 1998, Aviron filed its product license application with the FDA.
• The Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee conducted two days of hearings about FluMist in July 2001. The committee decided the data showed FluMist was effective, but asked for more information to demonstrate its safety, particularly in children.
• In December 2001, Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune and Aviron announced plans to merge. The $1.7 billion stock swap deal closed in January 2002.
• In December 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee deemed FluMist safe and effective for healthy people aged 5 to 49.

Personal Information:

• Born June 11, 1926 in Damascus, Syria.
• Arrived in the U.S. 1947, became a permanent resident in 1955 and a U.S. citizen in 1960.
• Married Hilda Zahka Jan. 18, 1959. Their mothers both thought that if he found the right girl, he'd stay in Syria. Instead, Hilda came to the U.S., where Maassab was finishing his studies. She studied pharmacy at University of Michigan.
• The Maassabs had twin sons, Sammy and Fred, Oct. 10, 1959.

For more information, contact U-M information officer Laura Lessnau at (734) 647-1851.