Peter Doherty (immunologist) explained

Peter Doherty
Birth Place:Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality:Australian
Birth Name:Peter Charles Doherty
Field:Medicine
Immunology
Work Institutions:John Curtin School of Medical Research
Australian National University
Thesis Url:http://hdl.handle.net/1842/17153
Thesis Title:Studies in the experimental pathology of louping-ill encephalitis
Thesis Year:1970
Doctoral Advisor:G. L. Montgomery
J. T. Stamp
Known For:Major histocompatibility complex
Prizes:Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1983)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1996)
Australian of the Year (1997)
Leeuwenhoek Lecture (1999)

Peter Charles Doherty (born 15 October 1940) is an Australian immunologist and Nobel laureate.[1] He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1995, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Rolf M. Zinkernagel[2] in 1996 and was named Australian of the Year in 1997.[3] In the Australia Day Honours of 1997, he was named a Companion of the Order of Australia for his work with Zinkernagel.[4] He is also a National Trust Australian Living Treasure.[5] In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Doherty's immune system research was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as an iconic "innovation and invention".[6]

Early life and education

Peter Charles Doherty was born in the Brisbane, suburb of Sherwood on 15 October 1940, to Eric Charles Doherty and Linda Doherty (née Byford).[7] [8] He grew up in Oxley,[9] and attended Indooroopilly State High School (which now has a lecture theatre named after him).

After receiving his bachelor's degree in veterinary science in 1962 from the University of Queensland, he was a rural veterinary officer for the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock before taking up laboratory-based work at the Department's Animal Research Institute.[10] There he met microbiology graduate Penelope Stephens and they were married in 1965.[10] Doherty received his master's degree in veterinary science in 1966 from the University of Queensland.[11] He obtained his PhD in pathology[12] in 1970 from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland,[13] then returned to Australia to continue his research at the John Curtin School of Medical Research within the Australian National University in Canberra.

Research and career

Doherty's research focused on the immune system and his Nobel Prize-winning work described how the body's immune cells protect against viruses. He and Rolf Zinkernagel, the co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, discovered how T cells recognise their target antigens in combination with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins.[14]

Viruses infect host cells and reproduce inside them. Killer T-cells destroy those infected cells so that the viruses cannot reproduce. Zinkernagel and Doherty discovered that, in order for killer T cells to recognise infected cells, they had to recognise two molecules on the surface of the cell – not only the virus antigen, but also a molecule of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). This recognition was done by a T-cell receptor on the surface of the T cell. The MHC was previously identified as being responsible for the rejection of incompatible tissues during transplantation. Zinkernagel and Doherty discovered that the MHC was responsible for the body fighting meningitis viruses too.[15]

Awards and honours

Doherty was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1987.[16] In 1997, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[17] He is the patron of the eponymous Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health. It houses a group of infection and immunology experts, including Director Professor Sharon Lewin, who are charged with leading the battle against infectious diseases in humans. This became operational in 2014.[18] He became an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2015.[19] In the same year he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS).[20] In April 2017 he was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Victoria (FRSV).[21]

John Monash Science School,[22] Moreton Bay Boys College,[23] and Murrumba State Secondary College[24] each have a house named after him.

Non academic publications

Personal life

, Peter Doherty and his wife Penny live in Melbourne.[25] They have two sons, Michael, a neurologist working in the United States,[26] and James, a Melbourne-based barrister,[10] and six grandchildren.[27] He gained a renewed level of fame in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when he accidentally tweeted the phrase 'Dan Murphy opening hours' instead of performing a web search for it.[28] [29]

Doherty currently spends three months of the year conducting research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he is a faculty member at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center through the College of Medicine.[30] For the other 9 months of the year, he works in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, Victoria.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC. University of Queensland. https://web.archive.org/web/20181102062946/https://alumni.uq.edu.au/story/1276/laureate-professor-peter-doherty-ac. 2 November 2018. live. 2 November 2018. 2 November 2015.
  2. Web site: Peter Doherty - Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative. Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative. 26 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130928034337/http://www.nobelprizeii.org/nobel-laureate/peter-doherty/. 28 September 2013. live. dmy-all.
  3. Book: Lewis, Wendy . Australians of the Year . Pier 9 Press . 2010 . 978-1-74196-809-5 . Wendy Lewis .
  4. Web site: It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours. www.itsanhonour.gov.au. 30 July 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129123018/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883305. 29 January 2019. live. dmy-all.
  5. Web site: Peter C. Doherty, PhD. 30 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905180022/https://www.stjude.org/directory/d/peter-doherty.html. 5 September 2015. live. dmy-all.
  6. Web site: PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS. Bligh. Anna. Anna Bligh. 10 June 2009. Queensland Government. https://web.archive.org/web/20170524033717/http://statements.qld.gov.au/statement/id/64301. 24 May 2017. 24 May 2017.
  7. News: Births . The Courier-Mail . 21 October 1940 . p. 6, col. 1. 2 September 2021.
  8. Web site: Peter C. Doherty - Biographical. 7 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222011621/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1996/doherty-bio.html. 22 December 2016. live. dmy-all.
  9. Web site: Antipodes Science: Peter Doherty...downloaded . New Scientist . https://web.archive.org/web/20201023093357/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15220577-500-antipodes-science-peter-doherty-downloaded/ . 23 October 2020 . 23 November 1996.
  10. Web site: Collis . Brad . Survival of the Cells . Innovation Intelligence . 2 September 2021 . https://archive.today/20210902221659/https://www.innovation-intelligence.com/bios/peter-charles-doherty . 2 September 2021.
  11. Web site: Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC. University of Queensland. https://web.archive.org/web/20181102062946/https://alumni.uq.edu.au/story/1276/laureate-professor-peter-doherty-ac. 2 November 2018. live. 4 November 2018. dmy-all. 2 November 2015.
  12. Web site: The American Association of Immunologists - Peter C. Doherty. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200925171821/https://www.aai.org/About/History/Notable-Members/Nobel-Laureates/PeterCDoherty . 25 September 2020 .
  13. PhD. Doherty. Peter Charles. 1970. Studies in the experimental pathology of louping-ill encephalitis. . 1842/17153. dmy-all.
  14. News: Immunity scientists win Nobel prize. Hawkes. Nigel. 8 October 1996. The Times (London). 13.
  15. Web site: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1996. 25 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025081627/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1996/press-release/. 25 October 2018. live. dmy-all.
  16. Web site: Peter Doherty. royalsociety.org. 12 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163000/https://royalsociety.org/people/peter-doherty-11343/. 12 June 2018. live. dmy-all.
  17. Web site: Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement. www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. 22 June 2020. 15 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration. live.
  18. Web site: Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne. 8 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140706225002/http://www.doherty.unimelb.edu.au/project.html. 6 July 2014. live. dmy-all.
  19. Web site: Report of the Annual Fellows' Meeting 2015 - The Academy of Medical Sciences. www.acmedsci.ac.uk. 7 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113446/http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/report-of-the-annual-fellows-meeting-2015/. 4 March 2016. live. dmy-all.
  20. Web site: Fellowship AAHMS – Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. www.aahms.org. en-AU. 2018-06-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180626034639/http://www.aahms.org/fellowship/. 26 June 2018. live. dmy-all.
  21. News: Elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Victoria - The Royal Society of Victoria. The Royal Society of Victoria. 2018-06-27. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20170707135125/https://rsv.org.au/about-us/fellows/. 7 July 2017. live. dmy-all.
  22. Web site: House Programs. www.jmss.vic.edu.au. en. 2018-06-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180626111151/http://www.jmss.vic.edu.au/jmss/15561/house-programs/?frm_id=158. 26 June 2018. live. dmy-all.
  23. News: Moreton Bay Boys' College School House Program. Moreton Bay Boys' College. 2018-06-26. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20180626111106/http://mbbc.qld.edu.au/student-care/school-houses/. 26 June 2018. live. dmy-all.
  24. Web site: Murrumba State Secondary College. 2011-09-15. murrumbassc.eq.edu.au. en. 2019-01-28. 28 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190128192648/https://murrumbassc.eq.edu.au/Pages/default.aspx. live.
  25. News: Willis . Olivia . Nobel prize winner Peter Doherty on navigating COVID-19 and life in lockdown . ABC News . 13 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210713021158/https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2021-07-13/peter-doherty-cracking-covid-documentary/100287702 . 13 July 2021.
  26. News: Walker . Jamie . Coronavirus is just as lethal as Spanish flu, Nobel laureate Peter Doherty warns . The Australian . 4 April 2020 . https://archive.today/20210904041318/https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/science/coronavirus-is-just-as-lethal-as-spanish-flu-nobel-laureate-peter-doherty-warns/news-story/351d7fc88c012d7f4a4b2d1659f12942 . 4 September 2021.
  27. News: Durkin . Patrick . 'I'm 79, I won the Nobel Prize and I don't give a s---' . Australian Financial Review . 8 May 2020 . https://archive.today/20200510175022/https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/health-and-wellness/i-m-79-i-won-the-nobel-prize-and-i-don-t-give-a-s-20200506-p54qhb . 10 May 2020.
  28. Doherty . Peter . Peter Doherty (immunologist) . ProfPCDoherty . 1254616358479966209 . 27 April 2020 . Dan Murphy opening hours . en . 9 January 2024 .
  29. News: McGowan . Michael . Nobel prize-winning immunologist accidentally asks Twitter when he'll be able to get a drink . The Guardian . 27 April 2020 . 9 January 2024 .
  30. Web site: UTHSC people search . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124317/http://oracle.uthsc.edu/directory.php?action=DETAIL&id=T100222383 . 2 April 2015 .

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