Hunein Maassab

Hunein (John) Maassab (Arabic: حنين معصّب‎) (born Hunein Maassab in Syria) was a Syrian-American professor of Epidemiology known for developing the Live attenuated influenza vaccine

Maassab was born June 11, 1926, in Damascus, Syria,[1] he immigrated to the United States in the late 1940s and started using the name John.[2] Maassab received his Bachelor of Arts in 1950 and Master of Arts 1952 University of Missouri. This was followed by Master of Public Health in 1954 and a Ph.D. in 1956 from the University of Michigan.[1]

In 1956, Maassab worked as an assistant researcher in the University of Michigan Department of Epidemiology, becoming a research associate in 1957, an assistant professor in 1960, an associate professor in 1965, and a full professor in 1973.[1] He served as epidemiology chairman between 1991-1997 and founded and was the first director of the school’s Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology Program.[1] In February 2003 he was named professor emeritus of epidemiology.[1][3]

Maassab first isolated the Influenza Type-A-Ann Arbor virus in 1960 and by 1967 had developed a cold-adapted virus. His research lasted 40 years and resulted in FluMist, a cold-adapted, live attenuated, trivalent influenza virus vaccine.[1] In June 2003, the Food and Drug Administration declared FluMist (the brand of the vaccine) safe for healthy people between the age of 5 to 49 who are not pregnant, then it was approved for children as young as 2.[2][3]

Massab died on February 1, 2014 at his home in North Carolina.[4]