yellow fever commission yellow fever commission the yellow fever commission was a research team of the united states army which researched treatment for yellow fever. spanishenglishwalter reed authored these informed consent documents in 1900 for his research on yellow fever the commission was originally formed as the reed commission by army surgeon general george sternberg in 1900. the medical research board was forged as a four member board consisting of walter reed, james carroll, jesse w. lazear, and aristides agramonte. the u.s. army research detachment was commissioned for public health surveillance regarding a tropical disease susceptible by the predatorial aedes aegypti or an infectious mosquito in cuba. the mosquito-borne disease or yellow fever pathogen was found to have inflicted an elevated casualty count during the spanish–american war. the research process itself became a focus of study for later generations. a united states nurse named clara maass and two spanish immigrants were among those who died as a result of their research participation. researchers mark the research of the yellow fever commission as the origin of the model of modern consent in medical research. in popular culture 1934 yellow jack broadway playbill promotional the 1934 yellow jack theatrical production told the story of walter reed in the yellow fever commission. the theatre production was cast with sam levene, james stewart, eddie acuff, and myron mccormick. the broadway play was the basis of yellow jack, a 1938 movie presenting the same narrative.