Henrique da Rocha Lima (24 November 1879 – 12 April 1956) was a Brazilianphysician,pathologist andinfectologist born inRio de Janeiro. With his friend,Stanislaus von Prowazek, he described what would later be known asRickettsia prowazekii, thepathogen ofepidemic typhus. Rocha Lima named the organism after Prowazek and AmericanbacteriologistHoward Taylor Ricketts (1871-1910).[1]
Henrique da Rocha Lima received his M.D. degree from the Medical School of Rio de Janeiro in 1905. He was one of the founders of theOswaldo Cruz Institute, where he worked as a professor of pathology with other famous Brazilian researchers, such asOswaldo Cruz himself,Adolfo Lutz andCarlos Chagas (the discoverer ofChagas disease) in the areas ofmicrobiology,immunology andinfectious diseases. Rocha Lima developed an international career in medical research, working with pathologistHermann Dürck (1869-1941) at theUniversity of Munich, and from 1909, as director of the department of pathology at theInstitute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases in Hamburg.[1]
In Brazil, he was a scientific and educational leader, as he participated in the foundation of thePaulista School of Medicine, and of theUniversity of São Paulo. Rocha Lima was also a president of theBrazilian Society for the Advancement of Science. He received several awards and distinctions, such as theIron Cross of the German Empire, the Benemerence Medal byPope Pius XI, the Nocht Medal for distinguished researchers on Tropical Diseases, and the effective membership of theGerman Academy of Natural Sciences.[1] His name has been given to the Student Union (Centro Acadêmico) at theFaculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, inRibeirão Preto, Brazil.[2]
In 2007, a new strain ofGram-negative bacteria was named after Rocha Lima,Bartonella rochalimae.[3]
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