| James Corson Niederman | |
| Birth Date: | 27 November 1924 |
| Birth Place: | Hamilton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Bethany, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Fields: | Virology, epidemiology |
| Workplaces: | Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health |
| Alma Mater: | Kenyon College, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
| Known For: | Epstein–Barr virus, infectious mononucleosis |
| Spouse: | Mimi (Miriam) Camp Niederman |
James Corson Niederman (November 27, 1924 – March 2, 2024) was an American epidemiologist whose research identified the Epstein–Barr virus as the cause of infectious mononucleosis in a study published in 1968.[1] [2]
James Corson Niederman was born on November 27, 1924, in Hamilton, Ohio. He graduated from Kenyon College in 1946,[3] and received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1949. For many years he was a residential college associate at the Yale School of Public Health.[4]
Beginning in the late 1950s, Dr. Niederman and Robert W. McCollum collected sera from Yale University freshmen.[5] Students who tested positive for EBV antibodies never developed infectious mononucleosis (IM). The pre-illness samples of students, who later developed infectious mononucleosis tested negative for EBV antibodies. Therefore, the presence of EBV antibodies indicated immunity from infectious mononucleosis.[6] The study demonstrated that EBV is not simply a passenger virus, it is the etiologic agent of infectious mononucleosis. This was a remarkable discovery, since at the time the cause of IM was a mystery.
Niederman died at his home in Bethany, Connecticut, on March 2, 2024, at the age of 99.[7]