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From the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/a> American sanitarian Wilson Smillie, the second head of the Laboratory of HygieneFrom the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n A cooperation plan was agreed between the foundation and the state government, to which the School of Medicine would be subordinate. Under the cooperative arrangement, a laboratory linked to the discipline of hygiene would provide training to students in the fifth year of medical school. The government would lease a building to house the laboratory and would defray its maintenance expenses. The Rockefeller Foundation would pay expenses toward purchasing necessary equipment and setting up a library, plus an annual sum of US$15,000 over five years. The property selected for the facility was a mansion next to the School of Medicine, in the center of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n \u201cThe agreement also provided that doctoral scholarships at the newly established School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University would be granted to two physicians from the S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine, and that the head of the Laboratory of Hygiene would be an American sent to Brazil from the United States,\u201d says sociologist Nelly Martins Ferreira Candeias, a retired professor at FSP-USP’s Public Health Department. \u201cThe appointed head was sanitarian Samuel Taylor Darling [1872\u20131925], a specialist in yellow fever, hookworm, and malaria,\u201d says the researcher. Candeias authored the first study on the creation of the Laboratory of Hygiene, published in 1984 in Revista de Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica <\/em>(Public health journal). Darling remained as head of the laboratory until late 1921, when he was replaced by Wilson George Smillie (1886\u20131971). Physicians Francisco Borges Vieira and Geraldo Horacio de Paula Souza were the Brazilians granted scholarships for training in the United States, becoming the first in the country to receive doctoral degrees in Hygiene and Public Health.<\/p>\n From the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/a> The first class of sanitary educators, trained in 1927From the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Born in Itu, a town in S\u00e3o Paulo State, Paula Souza (1889\u20131951) then had two degrees: one in pharmacy, completed in 1908, and another in medicine, completed at the Rio de Janeiro School of Medicine in 1913. In October 1918 the young physician went for his doctoral training at Johns Hopkins. There, he studied, conducted research, and visited sanitary institutes and works. \u201cOn returning to S\u00e3o Paulo in 1921, he became head of the Laboratory of Hygiene, with Borges Vieira as deputy,\u201d says sociologist Cristina de Campos, author of the book S\u00e3o Paulo pela lente da higiene: As propostas de Geraldo Hor\u00e1cio de Paula Souza para a cidade (1925\u20131945) <\/em>(S\u00e3o Paulo through the lens of hygiene: Geraldo Hor\u00e1cio de Paula Souza\u2019s propositions for the city [1925\u20131945]).<\/p>\n Under Paula Souza, the Laboratory of Hygiene was upgraded to the status of hygiene institute. \u201cPublic health became an interdisciplinary concern, and not just a medical one,\u201d says Correia. Following the end of the collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, he developed a proposal to transform the laboratory into a public-health school, a venue for research and training of professionals for the School of Medicine and Sanitary Service.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Institute of Hygiene, officially established in 1924, was innovative in that it trained professionals in both sanitary and medical disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n From the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/a> The laboratory was initially housed in this mansion on Brigadeiro Tobias street, in the center of S\u00e3o PauloFrom the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Its hygiene and public-health programs included lectures on sanitary administration, bacteriology and immunology, epidemiology, and prophylaxis of infectious diseases. In research, the institute\u2019s Department of Rural Hygiene, headed by parasitologist Samuel Pessoa (see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP, issue no. 255<\/em><\/a>), and Department of Epidemiology, under Borges Vieira, developed studies on the treatment of hookworm and prophylaxis of malaria, typhoid fever, and venereal diseases. The institute built extensive and valuable collaboration with the Health Service, of which Paula Souza became head in 1922 while still head of the Institute of Hygiene.<\/p>\n During his tenure at the Sanitary Service, he undertook a structural reform and created programs in hygiene and public health for physicians, and sanitary education for secondary students in training as teachers. \u201cHis proposition was to shift the focus of public-health efforts from the sanitary police to sanitary education,\u201d says education historian Helo\u00edsa Helena Pimenta Rocha from the School of Education at UNICAMP.<\/p>\n From the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/a> Borges Vieira published prolifically during his time as deputy head of the Institute of HygieneFrom the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Both Paula Souza and Borges Vieira advocated a \u201cneutral\u201d approach to science that could guide society on a rational path, lifting it from backwardness through education. In 1924 Paula Souza successfully applied for support from the Rockefeller Foundation to build a new building for the institute, says Rocha, author of the book A higieniza\u00e7\u00e3o dos costumes: Educa\u00e7\u00e3o escolar e sa\u00fade no projeto do Instituto de Hygiene de S\u00e3o Paulo (1918\u20131925)<\/em> (Introducing hygiene into customs: Scholastic and health education within the S\u00e3o Paulo Institute of Hygiene [1918\u20131925]).<\/p>\n In 1938, the School of Hygiene and Public Health was incorporated into USP and again came under the aegis of the School of Medicine. It was only in 1945 that it gained the status of an independent school. A number of important public policies implemented in the 1950s and 1960s derived from research conducted at the institution. One such policy was water fluoridation. In a survey of 334 cities in the state and 12 reservoirs, nutritionist Yaro Gandra found that fluoride levels in the water were less than ideal. His work led to a decision in 1952 to add fluoride to water supplies in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n A Veterinary Public Health program was created in 1957, followed the next year by a Graduate Program in Public Health for dentists. In 1959 this program offering was extended to nurses. In the 1960s, the university undertook demographic and health research programs in collaboration with the School of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences (FFLCH) at USP, leading to the creation of the Center for Population Dynamics Studies (CEDIP), founded and led by statistician Elza Berqu\u00f3 at FSP-USP, in 1966 (see<\/em> Pesquisa FAPESP,<\/em> issue no. 262<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n During the National Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign in 1968, the school was selected to host training courses on interpreting tuberculosis screening tests and administering BCG vaccines. In 1987, FSP-USP and the School of Law at USP created a working group on Sanitary Law, which later became the Center for Research in Sanitary Law (CEPEDISA).<\/p>\nFrom the collection of The Historical Museum at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n