Richard A. Cash, MD, MPH. is Senior Lecturer on International Health at the
Department of Population and International Health, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, U.S.A.
As a young clinician, right after finishing his internship in New York City, working at the
Pakistan-SEATO Cholera Research Laboratory (CRL) in Dhaka in 1960s, Dr Cash had been involved in the first scientifically-proven successful clinical trial of testing the oral rehydration therapy on severe diarrhea patients. The trial has become a landmark for subsequently applying this treatment around the world.
The research works conducted by Dr. David R. Nalin, Dr. Richard A. Cash, and Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis have sequentially contributed to the application of the oral rehydration solution in the treatment of severe diarrhea worldwide, including Thailand. It is estimated that each year around 500 million packs of the oral rehydration solution are used in more than 60 developing countries, saving millions of lives around the world.