Medicine and the research hospital
Cole received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins in 1899 and subsequently combined clinical and experimental work there. Appointed to Rockefeller in 1908, he helped organise its hospital and became its director before it opened in 1910.
Pneumococcal typing and serum
With Alphonse Dochez, Cole investigated pneumococcal infection and the differences between bacterial types. By late 1912 they had developed serum against type I pneumococcus and methods to identify the infecting type, connecting serum research with a defined infection.
References: [1]
Connecting the ward and laboratory
Cole recruited Avery to the pneumonia programme in 1913. He advocated physicians investigating disease through both patient care and laboratory work. He remained director until 1937, helping establish the hospital as a training centre for clinical investigators.
References: [1]