“Dr. Shepard was chief of the Leprosy and Rickettsial Branch at the CDC for more than 30-years. He was a leading expert on leprosy who, in 1960, succeeded in growing the microbe, Mycobacterium leprae, which caused leprosy in lab animals, a breakthrough that enabled scientists to test potential treatments and preventive measures much more quickly. In 1977, Shepard was also one of two CDC researchers who isolated the elusive bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease, Legionella pneumophila.