Leslie Harold Collier (9 February 1921 – 14 March 2011) was a scientist responsible for developing a freeze-drying method to produce a more heat stable smallpox vaccine in the late 1940s. Smallpox and Vaccinia Leslie Collier Obituary: Leslie H. Collier Obituary: 'The Daily Telegraph' (London), 23 March 2011. Collier added a key component, peptone, a soluble protein, to the process. This protected the virus, enabling the production of a heat-stable vaccine in powdered form. Previously, smallpox vaccines would become ineffective after 1–2 days at ambient temperature.
The development of his vaccine production method played a large role in enabling the World Health Organization to initiate its global smallpox eradication campaign in 1967.
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