Biologics Regulation and ResearchThe People and Work of Buildings 29 & 29A

He recruited Dr. Samuel Baron, one of the leading virologists of that era and a polio expert, to DBS to help sort out the aftermath of the Cutter polio incident. He worked with Drs. Kirschstein, Baron, and Van Hoosier on the live attenuated poliovirus vaccine. Did studies with Rhesus monkeys (from The Record article February 1960).

In February 1961, Dr. Murray informed Dr. Bernice Eddy that her research interests conflicted with her control work on respiratory viruses, and that going forward she would be asked to spend time solely on research, and that her staff would be reduced. It seemed that as long as Dr. Eddy was engaged in basic research with only minor relevance to her control activities, she was allowed to continue her work. But if her research began to identify factors which might require changes in regulatory control of vaccines, her work was to stop. In July 1961, Dr. Eddy began her new role in research only. Much of the treatment of Dr. Eddy was revealed in the hearings in Congress as part of the Consumer Safety Act of 1972. Although there wasn’t immediate fallout for Dr. Murray as there had been for his predecessor, Dr. William Workman with the Cutter incident, Dr. Murray was likely keenly aware of the scrutiny his role would continue to have.