About
Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting the anniversary of a momentous event that continues to shape modern medicine. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.
He is the author or editor of 10 books, including “Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892,” “When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed” and “An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine.”
Recent Stories
Health Jun 12
‘One day they simply weren’t there.’ How researchers reconstructed Anne Frank’s last monthsToday would have been the 91st birthday of Anne Frank, the girl who left behind a tattered, hidden diary, now known as the gem-like book that's treasured by many millions. But the exact date of her death is unknown, and…
Health Apr 20
What history revealed about cities that socially distanced during a pandemicIn 2005, in response to the threat of H5N1, a flurry of pandemic preparedness planning began in Washington and across the nation that would set the groundwork for what’s happening now.
Health Apr 16
‘The Plague’ perfectly captures the risk in returning to normalIt's the most vexing phase of an epidemic -- once an illness peters out, healthy people begin to place it in the past.
Health Apr 04
Dorothea Dix’s tireless fight to end inhumane treatment for mental health patientsToday marks the 218th birthday of Dorothea Lynde Dix, one of the America’s most eminent reformers of the living conditions and treatment of the mentally ill.
Health Mar 24
How the discovery of HIV led to a transatlantic research warAs the world struggles to constrain the new coronavirus, it's worth remembering the discovery of another deadly, global virus and a controversy that played out among the researchers who brought it to light.
Health Feb 21
The dramatic death of a former president at the U.S. CapitolPerhaps the strangest event that ever occurred in the House chamber of the Capitol harkens all the way back to 1848.
Health Jan 21
How the quest to preserve Lenin’s body helps the livingOver the last century, the Lenin preservation laboratory has created a long list of measures that help patients.
Health Dec 17
What caused Beethoven’s deafness?It is a query that has invited many diagnoses over the last 200 years.
Health Nov 22
John F. Kennedy kept these medical struggles privateLong before he died at age 46, President John F. Kennedy was a very sick man.
Health Oct 18
How Dracula draws on our biggest health fears"Dracula" abounds with fascinating references to medicine of the day.
