[1][2] While serving in the United States Army as a first lieutenant during World War II and stationed at a military hospital in England, Ginsberg was responsible for caring for soldiers injured during the Normandy landings.
Further investigation showed that the patients had contracted Hepatitis B from pooled plasma, which led to changes in transfusion practices and resulted in a significant reduction in illness and death among soldiers being treated.
He was on the faculty of Western Reserve University starting in 1951, where research he conducted showed that adenoviruses, which could lie dormant in the adenoids for extended periods, were among the causes of atypical pneumonia and acute respiratory disease.
[3] A widely published author of more than 200 scientific papers and a standard text on microbiology, Ginsberg was inducted as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Saul J. Silverstein of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons called Ginsberg "a giant in this field" whose "discoveries involving the genetics of adenoviruses paved the way for the development of gene therapy".