Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

118 ELISHA TIKASINGH (1927- ) A former student of Naparima College, Dr. Elisha Tikasingh made significant contributions in the field of medical scientific research. He described the ‘Nariva Virus’ and assisted in the description of the ‘Restan Virus’, both new to science at that time. However, his greatest achievement was the development of a technique for the production of large amounts of fluids with antibodies in mice, used to identify arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses). During his career, he wrote many articles and published the book “ The Hunt for Caribbean Viruses: A History of the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory ”. The main lecture theatre at CAREC is called the Dr. Elisha Tikasingh Lecture Theatre in his honour. Awards: 1964 Distinguished Service Award in Recognition of Outstanding Contributions to Public Health from the Caribbean Public Health Association; 1995 Award for Outstanding Service to Medical Technology from the Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists; 2001 Award for Excellence for Outstanding Scientific Achievements in Entomology, Parasitology and Virology from the Caribbean Health Research Council.