| Hunein Maassab | |
| Birth Date: | 11 June 1926 |
| Birth Place: | Damascus, Syria |
| Death Place: | North Carolina, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | University of Michigan |
| Fields: | Epidemiology |
| Known For: | Inventing the Live attenuated influenza vaccine |
Hunein (John) Maassab (Arabic: حنين معصّب) (born Hunein Maassab) 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.
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. He served as epidemiology chairman between 1991-1997 and founded and was the first director of the school's Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology Program. In February 2003 he was named professor emeritus of epidemiology.[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. 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.
Massab died on February 1, 2014, at his home in North Carolina.[4]