[leee (Thomas)]

On this day in 1899, Annie Jean Macnamara — who would later be given the formal title of dame — was born in Victoria, Australia. Having graduated medical school at the age of 23 and joining Royal Children’s Hospital a year later, Macnamara arrived just before the hospital faced a polio outbreak.

Witnessing firsthand the effect of the poliovirus on children, Macnamara put in significant work to finding a vaccine for polio, including helping to discover that there was more than one strain of the virus. Jean Macnamara’s efforts had a direct impact on the development of the polio vaccine in 1955, ultimately earning her the award of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.