Thomas McPherson Brown

Who was Thomas McPherson Brown?

Thomas McPherson Brown was a renowned rheumatologist who, over a medical career spanning 50 years, pioneered antibiotic treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, lupus and other collagen diseases. He used them to treat over ten thousand patients, often inducing remission in their disease.

Brown graduated from Swarthmore College as a Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended Johns Hopkins Medical School. He did his medical residency also at Johns Hopkins. Subsequently, he did research at the Rockefeller Institute in NY. This research led Brown to conjecture a link between rheumatoid arthritis and cell wall deficient bacteria called mycoplasmas. Exploring that link would inspire the rest of his medical career. Work positions held by Brown after he left the Rockefeller Institute: Assistant Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Director of Arthritis Research at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Washington, D.C.; Professor of Medicine at George Washington School of Medicine in Washington D.C.; Department Chairman at the same university; Doctor at the Arthritis Institute of the National Hospital for Orthopedics and Rehabilitation.