NIHERST: Caribbean Icons in STI

Dr. Barbara Hull is a noted virologist who dedicated 27 years of her life to the promotion of public health and the battle against communicable diseases. She set up disease surveillance systems in Trinidad and Tobago, which noted patterns in disease incidence of gastroenteritis, respiratory disease and poliovirus infections, and improved the health sector’s response to disease outbreaks. She also co-ordinated regional surveys, trained medical professionals and technicians, and studied the epidemiology of certain diseases.

Barbara Hull was born in 1939 in Belmont, Trinidad. She attended Providence Intermediate School until her fifth year, when she entered Bishop Anstey High School. During her high school years, her parents provided practical exposure to the careers that she considered. When she suggested that she might one day want to work in a laboratory, her father assisted her in getting a vacation job at the Medical Laboratory in Port of Spain, an experience which solidified her desire to work in a lab.

At the age of 18, Hull began studying Zoology at the Polytechnic Institute and working at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) as a laboratory assistant. After her third year at the ICTA, she applied to McGill University and was accepted. In the following year, Hull headed to Canada where she began her studies in zoology and literature. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology in 1966, with honours in Bacteriology and Immunology.

After her return home, Hull met Dr. Leslie Spence, the man who would become her lifelong mentor. Dr. Spence was the Director of the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory (TRVL), which had discovered many viruses that were new to science. This encounter was the turning point in Hull’s career and afterward, she was employed by the TRVL as a research assistant.

Hull obtained her Master’s Degree from McGill University in 1969, under the supervision of Dr. Spence. Her thesis was based on research on the Trinidad Cocal virus, a mosquito-borne arbovirus. When Hull returned to Trinidad, she found that the TRVL had become a unit of the University of the West Indies and she was posted in the Diagnostic Laboratory located in Port of Spain. She was a Laboratory Superintendent for the first two years and then held the post of Lecturer in Microbiology until 1975.

At this point, Hull saw the need to look at diseases in the context of public health and the interest of community rather than just the diagnosis of isolated cases. She also saw the need to identify the type and time of interventions that would mitigate the spread and the effects of disease. Discussions were held with the Chief Medical Officer and a disease surveillance system was set up using health centres and hospitals. While at the laboratory, she highlighted possible patterns in the incidence of gastroenteritis, respiratory disease and poliovirus infections.

In 1971, the disease surveillance system isolated infections of poliovirus type 1. In response, a new supply of polio vaccine was sought from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Hull isolated the viruses, identified them and tested the vaccine for potency in preparation for a nationwide immunisation programme. Her timely response ensured that the country was well prepared for the 1972 outbreak which followed, proving the surveillance programme to be both successful and worthwhile. Hull then recommended that resources be spent to investigate the control and prevention of dengue, rubella, hepatitis and gastrointestinal diseases in children. Hull supported the addition of community and public health training to the curriculum for medical students and ultimately, this training became part of the medical programme at the Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex.

When the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC) replaced the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory in 1975, Barbara Hull, in her new post of Virologist and Head of Laboratory Services, co-ordinated many new Caribbean surveys. She trained technicians and medical students from Jamaica, Suriname and Barbados. She directed surveillance of on yellow fever in the late 1970s which yielded an understanding of the aetiology (cause) of the disease and aided in the development of an immunisation programme in Trinidad and Tobago, still considered to be one of the best in the region. She also charted the prevalence of Hepatitis B in Trinidad and Tobago and conducted research to discover the best prevention methods.

Hull’s interest in gastrointestinal disease in children led to her choosing this topic as the area of research covered in her doctoral thesis. She confirmed the presence of a new rotavirus (virus which infects and replicates in the intestine) with seasonal incidence in Trinidadian children with gastroenteritis, thereby explaining why gastroenteritis resisted the action of antibiotics, which only affect bacteria. In 1983, Hull attained a PhD from the University of the West Indies for her research, which went on to have an extensive impact on the treatment of this disease.

In the 1980s, Dr. Hull discovered that the dengue virus aestivates in the eggs of mosquitoes during the dry season. She conducted research on the HTLV-1 virus and became involved in public health education in HIV transmission. At CAREC, she compared and assessed new test methods to strengthen the capability for HIV testing in Caribbean laboratories and to standardise testing methods.

In 1986, Dr. Hull received the Medal of Merit from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for her service in the field of Public Health..

In the late 1980s the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) began a programme for elimination of polio in the region. Dr. Hull became the Co-ordinator of the Global Lab Network at the World Health Organisation in 1990. She empowered regional virology laboratories to support the Global Polio Eradication Programme and assisted in developing standardised methods and manuals for the network laboratories. She also spearheaded fund-raising efforts and measured the progress of all global Polio Network laboratories. This tremendous effort put the Global Polio Eradication programme on a sound footing and eradicated the disease from the Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean and European regions.

Dr. Hull also placed emphasis on the surveillance of yellow fever, particularly in Africa where she initiated training in laboratory diagnosis. She conceptualised similar “master plans” for yellow fever and measles and wrote a manual on measles diagnosis. She also developed safety guidelines for Health Care workers for the Ministry of Health in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Hull retired in 1998. During her retirement, she was called upon to assist in conducting workshops in Tunisia and Ghana. During the workshops, she revised her previous manual on measles diagnosis and contributed to a new CAREC publication which focused on the surveillance of communicable diseases in the Caribbean.

To youngsters who may be interested in pursuing careers in science, Dr. Hull advises that: “We are blessed with the gift of curiosity. We should not stifle that curiosity but seek to understand and learn more and more about the world around us. This is science. All scientific findings, if well used, can benefit mankind. There is no better way to spend your life than in the pursuit of science – with a conscience.”

Barbara Hull - Virologist

Barbara Hull
- Virologist