1911-1993

British surgeon and researcher noted for his research on tropical medicine and high-fiber diets. After World War II, Burkitt went to Uganda as a surgeon in the British colonial service, where he studied a lethal cancer of the lymphatic system in children. Recognizing that the cancer occurred in areas where malaria and yellow fever were endemic, Burkitt suspected an insect was the vector. He linked the disease to a virus that emerges when the immune system is suppressed. Later, he developed chemotherapy for this lymphoma, named Burkitt's lymphoma. Burkitt also advocated a high fiber diet to protect against colon cancer and other ailments, popularized by his book Don't Forget Fiber in Your Diet (1979).