Henrique da Rocha Lima

Henrique da Rocha Lima (24 November 1879 – 12 April 1956) was a Brazilian physician, pathologist and infectologist born in Rio de Janeiro.

Rocha Lima named the organism after Prowazek and American bacteriologist Howard Taylor Ricketts (1871-1910).

He was one of the founders of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, where he worked as a professor of pathology with other famous Brazilian researchers, such as Oswaldo Cruz himself, Adolfo Lutz and Carlos Chagas (the discoverer of Chagas disease) in the areas of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases.

Rocha Lima developed an international career in medical research, working with pathologist Hermann Dürck (1869-1941) at the University of Munich, and from 1909, as director of the department of pathology at the Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases in Hamburg.

[1] In Brazil, he was a scientific and educational leader, as he participated in the foundation of the Paulista School of Medicine, and of the University of São Paulo.