David L. Morris

David L. Morris (1929-2017) was an American allergist who was the lead author of the La Crosse Method Protocol, an allergy treatment using sublingual immunotherapy as an alternative to allergy injections.

Education and career background

Morris was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1929. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, interned in Duluth, Minnesota, and became a flight surgeon in the US Air Force. After being in the US Air Force, Morris joined a private practice in West Salem, Wisconsin as a family practitioner, where he began treating allergic issues. Finding a number of farmers suffering from mold allergies who did not benefit from existing treatment options, Morris began researching options and learned AbOUT sublingual immunotherapy as an option for food allergy. He began offering the treatment to his mold-allergic patients and found they responded well; subsequently he began to treat other allergic patients using the same method. His interest in allergy led to his interest in becoming board certified in allergy and focusing solely on allergy in his La Crosse, Wisconsin practice.

Morris actively researched the use of sublingual immunotherapy through his clinical practice, and he and his partners later published what is now known as the La Crosse Method Protocol, a specific treatment method using sublingual immunotherapy to address food and inhalant allergies. His approach was featured in the 2015 documentary film by Alex Schuman and Informavore Media. He established an organization to share his protocol with allergy providers across the country and internationally, with nearly 2000 providers using the protocol to help patients closer to home.

Morris was dedicated to sharing what he learned clinically and through his research, and his philanthropic gifts included funding to launch the Morris Institute of Respiratory Research at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. In addition, Dr. Morris was featured in the publication, White Coat Wisdom: Extraordinary Doctors Talk about What They Do, How They Got There and Why Medicine is So Much More Than a Job.