[Of mice, vaccines and men: the Rockefeller Foundation Yellow Fever Program in Columbia, 1932-1948].

From 1927 on, a series of technological innovations revolutionized the study of yellow fever, leading to a re-conceptualization of the disease. The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) was at the vanguard of these developments, which made specialized laboratories an imperative. This paper explores the activities of the RF yellow fever cooperative programme in Colombia and their consequences, and shows how the RF constructed yellow fever as a continental problem and a public health priority for the American republics, investing heavily in basic research - its primary interest-, thus deviating attention and resources from other pressing health needs. At the same time, Colombian health authorities gained legitimacy through the prestige and resources of the programme, and were in a better position to advocate the role of research in national public health.