Carlo Urbani
| Carlo Urbani | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 19, 1956 Castelplanio, Italy |
| Died | March 29, 2003 (aged 46) Bangkok, Thailand |
| Education | University of Ancona |
| Known for | Identifying SARS |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Physician |
| Institutions |
Médecins Sans Frontières World Health Organization |
| Research | Infectious diseases, parasitic diseases |
Carlo Urbani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkarlo urˈbaːni]; Castelplanio, Italy October 19, 1956 – Bangkok, Thailand March 29, 2003) was an Italian doctor and microbiologist and the first to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as a new and dangerously contagious viral disease. Although he himself became infected and died, his early warning to the World Health Organization (WHO) touched off a massive response that helped save the lives of millions of people around the world.
Urbani graduated with a medical degree in 1981 from the University of Ancona and obtained a specialization in infectious and tropical diseases from the University of Messina. He subsequently earned a postgraduate degree in tropical parasitology.
Urbani started volunteering for the African endemic disease cause since young joining the Italian Catholic NGO Mani Tese. After years working in the epidemic medicine fields, in 1993 he became an external consultant of the World Health organization and in 1996 he joined Médecins Sans Frontières which took him to Vietnam and Cambodia for long term work periods combatting parasitic diseases and curing endemic pathologies. Soon he became president of the Italian chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières and was one of the individuals who accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of that organization. With the money that the organization cashed off the Nobel Prize, President Urbani decided to create a fund to promote an international campaign for access to essential medicines for the world's poorest populations.
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