Meriwether, W. Delano 1943-

HEMATOLOGIST AND PHYSICIAN-ATHLETE

Medical Researcher.

Dr. W. Delano Meriwether, the director of the federal government's 1976 ambitious and controversial swine flu immunization program, was the first African-American student to integrate Duke University's School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. He developed an interest in medical research and decided to become a hematologist. Hematology is the study of the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and therapeutics of blood. Dr. Meriwether's studies centered on leukemia and sickle-cell anemia. After graduation he became affiliated with the National Institutes of Health, where he worked with young leukemia patients.

Sports Hero.

In 1970, in an effort to take his mind off the depressing aspects of the tragic situation of the leukemia victims he treated, he took up running in the evenings on a high-school track. At the age of twenty-seven, without any previous...

[The entire page is 429 words long]

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