User:JustOatmeal/Elizabeth O. King

Elizabeth Osborne King (October 12, 1912 –April 8, 1966) was an American microbiologist who discovered and described unusual bacteria of medical importance at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. The genera Kingella and Elizabethkingia and several bacteria species are named to honor her for her pioneering work.

Life and Career
Born on October 12, 1912 in Atlanta, Georgia, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in zoology at the University of Georgia in 1935, and her Master of Science degree in medical technology at Emory University in 1938 with her thesis, The Effect of New Antimalarial Drugs on Avian Malaria.

In 1943 she joined the Women's Army Corps and served as a commissioned officer during World War II at Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland. After the war, she worked at the Emory University Hospital from 1946 to 1948, and then joined the staff of the recently founded U.S. Communicable Disease Center, now known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where she spent the rest of her professional life. King initially worked in the Diphtheria Laboratory but transferred to the newly created General Bacteriology Laboratory, which was established to study malaria and exotic diseases brought back by servicemen in World War II.

In 1959, King identified a strain of bacilli bacteria that was responsible for an outbreak of meningitis among hospital newborns. She gave the species the name Flavobacterium meningosepticum and linked it as the source of infection in the newborns. It was later categorized as part of a new genus of bacteria named Elizabethkingia in her honor.

King specialized in systematic identification of bacteria using known cultures collected from around the world, and she propagated, froze, and stored bacterial samples for future use in identification. The information from her collection was stored on laboratory data cards developed with Dr. Martha K. Ward. In 1964, she presented her work "Identification of Unusual Gram-Negative Pathogenic Bacteria" at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Washington, D.C. Known as the "Round Table" at the time, it served as a field guide for identifying bacteria and was subsequently updated several times into the 1990s. The book is also known as the "Orange Book" by many microbiologists and is so well used in many labs that it has been said to be taped back together numerous times.

Death
King died of cancer on April 8, 1966 in Atlanta, where she is interred in Oakland Cemetery.

Honors
King has two genera containing bacteria she discovered that are named after her: Kingella and Elizabethkingia. In the 1960s, King identified a novel bacteria from human respiratory secretions, blood, and bone and joint exudates that was designated Moraxella kingii in her honor shortly after her death. In 1976, it was reassigned to the genus Kingella and given the species name Kingella kingae, In 2005, a bacteria discovered by Elizabeth King in 1959 that was initially classified as a Flavobacterium was moved to a new genus named Elizabethkingia. Species of this genus are responsible for meningitis infections in newborns and meningitis or bloodstream and respiratory infections in people with weakened immune systems.

In 1970, the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology established the Elizabeth O. King Award for notable and significant contributions in the diagnostic, public health, or medical microbiology. Qualifying contributions include publications, microbial systematics including collection, organization and interpretation of data, teaching and training, and/or evidence of superior performance as a diagnostic microbiologist.

The American Society of Microbiology gives the ASM Elizabeth O. King Lecturer Award, which recognizes exceptional accomplishments to advance science and public health.