Ronald Ross Biography 
Ronald Ross was an Indian born British doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria. He discovered the parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of the Anopheles mosquito that leads to dreadful malaria. It led to the knowledge of a new fact that malaria was transmitted by Anopheles.
Ronald Ross was born on 13th May 1857 in Almora, India as the son of British couple - General Sir Campbell Claye Grant Ross of the British Indian Army and Matilda Charlotte Elderton. At the age of eight, he was sent to England for his education and completed medicine in 1880. He returned back to India and joined the Indian Medical Service in 1881. His second posting was in Chennai, then known as Madras from where he commenced his research on Malaria in 1882. He continued his studies till 1899, working at the Presidency General Hospital, Kolkata. Ross built a bungalow with a laboratory at Mahanad village and collected mosquitoes for his studies. While posted at Bangalore he noticed the possibility of controlling mosquitoes by controlling their access to water.
In 1897, Ross was posted to Ooty where he fell ill with malaria. When he got transfer to Secunderabad he discovered the presence of the malaria parasite within a specific species of mosquito, of the genus Anopheles. Rest was history! During his active career he was so busy in spreading awareness among people about malaria. He conducted surveys and initiated several schemes including West Africa and areas affected during First World War. With his efforts, August 20 was declared as World Mosquito Day. His contributions to the epidemiology of malaria and its methods of its survey and assessment have helped a lot of countries to prevent this dreadful disease and create a general awareness.
He instituted Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases in 1926 at Bath House. It was later merged with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in Keppel Street. However it was later demolished to provide space for new mansion flats. But in his memory, that particular block was named as Ross Court.
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Updated: September 23, 2013
