Porter Warren Anderson Jr. (born January 1, 1937) is an American microbiologist best known for developing a vaccine that protects children from infections by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a leading cause of bacterial meningitis and epiglottitis.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, winning a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for post-graduate study.
His dissertation is titled, “Biochemical and genetic studies with spectinomycin in Escherichia coli.” Anderson taught at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL from 1966 to 1968.
[6][7][8] At Boston Children's Hospital in 1968 Anderson began vaccine research to prevent Hib disease along with David H. Smith and Richard Insel.
This vaccine – and alternative versions thereafter developed - became a part of standard childhood immunization regimens in 1990 and has been credited with reducing Hib disease by 99%.
Anderson continues to perform research on the development of an inexpensive pneumococcal vaccine for third world countries with colleague Richard Malley at Boston Children's Hospital.