Armstrong, Charles (1886–1967)
Credits: Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
Charles Armstrong, M.D., was best known for his work on polio and many other contagious diseases, such as botulism, influenza, syphilis, tetanus, milk-borne epidemics, dengue, and encephalitis.
Dr. Armstrong first joined the U.S. Public Health Service in 1916. He was among the first scientists assigned to the National Institute of Health (yes, singular!) in the 1930s and was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1944. Although he retired as chief of the NIH Laboratory of Infectious Diseases in 1950, he continued his research as a volunteer, working in the lab almost daily.