Named after Russian doctor, Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, Haffkine Research Institute, located in Parel, Mumbai, is one of the oldest institutions in India. It was the same doctor who had developed the plague vaccine in Paris where he was the student of the great scientist Luis Pasteur. He arrived in India in the year March 1893 when the cholera epidemic had gripped Bengal. The doctor fought a valiant battle and treated thousands of the patients.
In 1896, the epidemic of plague hit Mumbai and Pune. Impressed by the work of doctor Haffkine in Calcutta, the services of the doctor were enlisted and he moved to Mumbai. He was given working space in JJ Group of hospitals. It was here that the doctor successfully developed the plague vaccine. He used himself as guinea pig and tested the injection on himself.
In the year 1899, Governor Sandhurst formally handed the place to Dr.Haffkine.