Bailey Ashford Colonel Bailey K . Ashford ( September 28 , 1873 – September 10 , 1934 ) was an American physician who had a military career in the United States Army , and afterward taught full - time at the School of Tropical Medicine , which he helped establish in San Juan . A pioneering physician in the treatment of anemia , while stationed in Puerto Rico Ashford organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign against hookworm , which cured approximately 300 , 000 persons ( one - third of the Puerto Rico population ) . This reduced the death rate from associated anemia by 90 percent . He was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Anemia Commission . Early years . Ashford was born in Washington D . C . as one of five children in the family of Dr . Francis Ashford , a prominent physician , and his wife . His general education was obtained at the public schools and at Columbian University in Washington D . C . ( now George Washington University ) . In 1896 , he graduated from the Georgetown University Medical School . He served as resident physician in several area hospitals . As a recently commissioned lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Corps , Ashford accompanied the military expedition to Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish American War . Hookworm treatment . Serving as the medical officer in the general military hospital in Ponce , Puerto Rico , in 1899 he was the first to describe and successfully treat North American hookworm . He was a tireless clinician and conducted an exhaustive study of the anemia caused by hookworm infestation , which was responsible for as many as 12 , 000 deaths a year . From 1903 – 1904 , he organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign , which cured approximately 300 , 000 persons ( one - third of the Puerto Rico population ) . This work reduced the death rate from this anemia by 90 percent . Anemia treatment . Captain Ashford was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Anemia Commission . By special authority of the Secretary of War , he served on the Commission from 1904 – 1906 . School of Tropical Medicine . In 1911 , his proposal for an Institute of Tropical Medicine ( Later renamed School of Tropical Medicine ) in Puerto Rico was approved by Antonio R . Barceló , the president of the Puerto Rican Senate . He pushed for passage of the legislation to authorize the school , and Governor Horace Towner and his cabinet proceeded to create it . After serving as a commander of the Army Medical Department ’ s First Division during World War I , Colonel Ashford was assigned to San Juan . He campaigned for the development of " a real school of tropical medicine in the American tropics " . The School of Tropical Medicine of Puerto Rico was formally dedicated in 1925 . It was affiliated with Columbia University in New York and became part of the University of Puerto Rico . After a 30 - year Army career as a military doctor , Dr . Ashford assumed a full - time faculty position at the School , where he continued his interest in tropical medicine . Together with doctors Isaac González Martínez and Ramón M . Suárez Calderon , he continued to carry out experiments related to anemia . The University of Puerto Rico campus at Rio Piedras , the building of the Institute of Tropical Medicine ( see drawings ) in Puerta de Tierra , San Juan , is one of the few examples of the Neo - Plateresque architectural style in the Island . Legacy and honors . In his honor , the main avenue in the San Juan , Puerto Rico district of " El Condado " , bears his name as does Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital , also in Condado . His home in Condado is being preserved and renovated . In 1941 , The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene , established the " Bailey K . Ashford Medal " . This is awarded for distinguished work in tropical medicine to a worker in his or her early or mid - career . The first person to receive the award was Lloyd E . Rozeboom . The medal is awarded every year , and more than one award may be given . Ashford died on September 10 , 1934 , in his home in San Juan . His remains were interred in Puerto Rico National Cemetery in the city of Bayamón . Bibliography . His writings include : " Anemia in Puerto Rico " published in 1904 ; " Uncinariasis in Puerto Rico " published in 1911 ; and a memoir , " A Soldier in Science , " published in 1934 .