In what year was the microbiologist who first developed the MMR vaccine born?
1919
MMR vaccine
The MMR vaccine (also known as the MPR vaccine after the Latin names of the diseases) is an immunization vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles).
 It is a mixture of live attenuated viruses of the three diseases, administered via injection.
 It was first developed by Maurice Hilleman while at Merck.
Maurice Hilleman
Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was an American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity.
 Of the 14 vaccines routinely recommended in current vaccine schedules, he developed eight: those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and "Haemophilus influenzae" bacteria.
 He also played a role in the discovery of the cold-producing adenoviruses, the hepatitis viruses, and the cancer-causing virus SV40.
MMR vaccine controversy
The MMR vaccine controversy started with the 1998 publication of a fraudulent research paper in "The Lancet" linking the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to colitis and autism spectrum disorders.
 The claims in the paper were widely reported, leading to a sharp drop in vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland and increases in the incidence of measles and mumps, resulting in deaths and severe and permanent injuries.
 Following the initial claims in 1998, multiple large epidemiological studies were undertaken.
 Reviews of the evidence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences, the UK National Health Service, and the Cochrane Library all found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Hear the Silence
Hear the Silence is a 2003 semi-fictional TV drama based on the MMR vaccine controversy, which started when Andrew Wakefield published a paper claiming a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
 It debuted on December 15, 2003 at 9 PM on the British network Five.
 The film, produced at a cost of about 1 million pounds, stars Hugh Bonneville as Wakefield and Juliet Stevenson as Christine Shields, a fictional mother who discovers the possible MMR-autism link when her son is diagnosed as autistic.
 Stevenson's character begins telling doctor after doctor that her son seemed to develop autism soon after he received the MMR vaccine, but she does not receive any sympathy from them, nor does she receive any from her boss, or even her husband.
 However, this all changes when she meets Dr. Wakefield, who believes her statements about the MMR vaccine causing her son's autism.
 The film then shows fictional government officials "plotting" Wakefield's "demise", which they intend to bring about by portraying his research as flawed.
 Although never documented in reality, the film depicts Wakefield being targeted by the government: his phone is tapped and his files are stolen.
 The film attracted 1.2 million viewers on the first night it screened, considerably fewer than usual for Channel Five's films that debut at 9 PM, which often get more than 2 million viewers. Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services
Michelle Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, also known as the omnibus autism proceeding (OAP), was a court case involving the family of Michelle Cedillo, a girl with autism whose parents sued the United States government because they believed that her autism was caused by her receipt of both the measles-mumps-and-rubella vaccine (also known as the MMR vaccine) and thimerosal-containing vaccines.
 The omnibus proceeding required the petitioners to present three test cases for each proposed mechanism by which vaccines had, according to them, caused their children's autism; Michelle was the first such case for the MMR-and-thimerosal hypothesis. Kreesten Madsen
Kreesten Meldgaard Madsen is a Danish epidemiologist and expert on infectious diseases who, as of 2003, worked at the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre at Aarhus University.
 He is known for leading two studies that found no link between either the MMR vaccine and autism or thimerosal and autism.
 The first of these studies pertained to MMR and was published in 2002; the second pertained to thimerosal and was published in 2003.
 Both of these studies received considerable media attention, but the study regarding thimerosal and autism was criticized by Mark Blaxill of activist group SafeMinds, who said it was irrelevant to the United States because it was conducted in Denmark, where the autism rate is lower. Mumpsvax
Mumpsvax is a mumps vaccine made of mumps virus.
 It is a product of Merck & Co., Inc.
 The vaccine is a component of Merck's three-virus MMR vaccine. Michael Fitzpatrick (physician)
Michael Fitzpatrick (born 1950) is a British general practitioner (GP) and medical author from London, UK.
 Fitzpatrick is known for writing several books and newspaper articles about controversies in autism, from his perspective as someone who is both a GP and the parent of a son with autism.
 His book "Defeating Autism: A Dangerous Delusion" (2008) describes his views on the rising popularity of "biomedical" treatments for autism, as well as the MMR vaccine controversy. Arthur Krigsman
Arthur Krigsman, MD, is a pediatrician and gastroenterologist best known for his controversial and research in which he attempted to prove that the MMR vaccine caused diseases, especially autism.
 He specializes in the evaluation and treatment of gastrointestinal pathology in children with autism spectrum disorders, and has written in support of what he calls autistic enterocolitis.
 The original study that tied the MMR vaccine to autism and GI complaints conducted by one of Krigsman's associates has been found to be fraudulent, and the diagnosis of "autistic enterocolitis" has not been accepted by the medical community. Vaxxed
Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe is a 2016 American film alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
 According to "Variety", the film "purports to investigate the claims of a senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who revealed that the CDC had allegedly manipulated and destroyed data on an important study about autism and the MMR vaccine"; critics derided it as an anti-vaccine propaganda film.