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In 1990, Dr Earl Long published the first description of the tropical intestinal parasite, Cyclospora cayetanensis and documented its diagnostic characteristics. He developed systems for disease diagnosis in three developing countries – Vietnam, Congo and Malaya, and these systems were adopted in 14 other countries. Dr Long is an Advisor to the World Health Organization and a Technical Advisor to the US Agency for International Development.
Earl Long was born in Castries, St Lucia in 1945. He attended the Roman Catholic Boys’ School and St. Mary’s College. He was good at Science and English, having been an avid reader from an early age. In his youth, he spent many weekends at his uncle’s lab at the Medical Laboratory at Victoria Hospital, where he was fascinated by the microscope – a telling precursor to the later fascination with Microbiology that would launch his career.
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Long went to Canada, where he pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology at Western Ontario University. He worked as a Research Assistant and Teaching Assistant before graduating in 1971. He then went to England, where he studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the University of London. He completed his Master’s degree in Medical Parasitology in 1975. In that year, he studied Epidemiology at the East African Institute of Medical Research at Mwanza in Tanzania, specialising in the control of schistosomiasis. In the following year, he also studied Immunology at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London and completed his Doctorate in Medical Helminthology (the study of parasitic worms) in 1977.
Between 1973 and 1980, Dr Long worked at the Ministry of Health in St. Lucia whenever he was home from his studies and also conducted research on the Schistosoma mansoni infection in St. Lucia during this time. In 1980, he received a two-year postdoctoral fellowship and travelled to the Medical Branch of the University of Texas where he studied the pathology of tuberculosis, as well as fungal and parasitic infections.
After completing his fellowship, he became the Associate Director of the Division of Clinical Microbiology and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Medical Branch. In 1985, he became the Head of the Parasitic Department at the Centre for Disease Control (CDC). As Head of this Department, he conducted training activities in diagnostic parasitology with several other schools and universities.
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In 1983, Dr Long received a pathogenic specimen from an AIDS patient suffering from diarrhoea. He had never seen the specimen before and he and his CDC team went to Nepal to investigate. They eventually traced the pathogen to a field of lettuce, which had been watered with contaminated water. The team spent years conducting research on this specimen and in 1990, they published the first description and diagnosis characteristics of the pathogen that would later become known as Cyclospora cayetanensis.
While in the Congo, Dr Long conducted research on malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS and gastroenterology. He worked under conditions in which there was no cable-transmitted electricity. However, he needed electricity to power his microscope, which was an indispensable tool in his work. With the help of an engineer, he designed the battery-powered “E.A.R.L light” – the External Autonomous Repositionable Lightweight light, which became a valuable resource for field use.
In 1996, Dr Long established collaborative research and training activities between the University of the West Indies School of Medicine, the Morehouse School of Medicine and the Centres for Disease Control. Since 1998, he has been an Adjunct Professor at the College of Allied Health of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He left the CDC in 2004.
Dr Long currently works at the Division of Parasitic Diseases in the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), where he conducts training activities and research on parasitic and other infectious diseases. He is also a dedicated fiction author, who counts West Indian authors like Vidya Naipaul and Derek Walcott as his inspirations. He has written four novels set in the West Indies: Consolation, Voices From A Drum, Leaves In A River and Slicer. In his spare time, he enjoys shooting, snorkelling and cooking, visiting museums and the movies, and listening to classical music.
Dr Earl Long advises kids that “the most powerful tool is language; it is the easiest way to get what you want”. He adds that “without language you cannot do anything or understand the sciences”. As for career advice, he notes that “if you want to get into the sciences, it is best to combine your studies with non-science subjects to get a real education”. He adds that youths should “do something they like and also do something that will make them a living.”
This Icon is also featured in the Kids’ Booklet :
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View Earl Long's Picture Gallery
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