Fenner's science today and tomorrow

Click to view presentation

Killer viruses and killer T cells

Tuesday 2 August, 2011

Professor Peter Doherty FAA

Related publication: The Science of Immunisation: Questions and Answers

Peter Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus infected cells. He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has since been commuting between St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. His research is mainly in the area of defence against viruses. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Doherty is the first person with a veterinary qualification to win a Nobel Prize. He is also the author of several books, including A Light History of Hot Air and The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize.

Killer viruses and killer T cells

Thirty years ago the World Health Organisation team led by Frank Fenner and DA Henderson celebrated the eradication of smallpox. This year in Rome, celebrations were held for the eradication of the second ever virus to be eliminated from our small planet. This time the virus was rinderpest, an infection of cattle that shared a common ancestor with human measles virus about 10-12,000 years back. Rinderpest caused catastrophic economic loss in 18th and 19th century Europe and, as recently as the 1980s, repeatedly devastated poor communities in Africa and Asia. Professor Doherty will speak about its eradication and the related potential to eradicate measles. He will also explore emerging viral threats and elements of the cellular immune response that play a key part in controlling such infections.