Sarah Sell, MD (1913-2012)

Dr. Sell was one of the key players in the development of the childhood vaccine to protect against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in children younger than 5. Her initiatives led to the licensure of several conjugated Hib vaccines in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Dr. Sell, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, earned her undergraduate degree from Berea College in Kentucky and a master’s degree in microbiology from Vanderbilt. When she began medical school at Vanderbilt, Dr. Sell, affectionately known as “Sally,” was one of only two women in her class. The other left after one year.

She graduated from VUSM in 1948 and continued medical training in pediatrics at Vanderbilt and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at LSU and Charity Hospital in New Orleans. She then was appointed to the faculty of Tulane School of Medicine.

Dr. Sell returned to Vanderbilt to join the faculty in 1954, and in addition to her clinical and teaching responsibilities, she performed research that helped lead to the Hib vaccine, which is now routinely given in the U.S. and is saving tens of thousands of children each year from the death and disability previously caused by bacterial meningitis.