Alick Isaacs

Alick Isaacs
Born 17 July 1921
Died 26 January 1967 (aged 45)
Fields Virology
Institutions National Institute for Medical Research
Alma mater University of Glasgow
Notable awards Fellow of the Royal Society[1]

Alick Isaacs FRS[1] (17 July 1921 – 26 January 1967) was a British virologist. Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann, a Swiss virologist, are best remembered as the co-discoverers of interferon in 1957.[2] He served as the Head of the Laboratory for Research on Interferon, National Institute for Medical Research, 1964–7.[3] Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou worked as an early career researcher in his laboratory.[4] A collection of his laboratory notes is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.[5]

Education

Isaacs was born to Jewish parents in Glasgow.[6] He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Glasgow in 1954 and was awarded honours and the Bellahouston Gold Medal for his research on the influenza virus.[1]

Awards and honours

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1966,[1] shortly before his death.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Andrewes, C. H. (1967). "Alick Isaacs 1921-1967". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 13: 204–226. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1967.0010.
  2. ↑ Kolata, Gina (2015-01-22). "Jean Lindenmann, Who Made Interferon His Life’s Work, Is Dead at 90". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  3. ↑ D Burke (14 February 2009). "The Discovery of Interferon, the First Cytokine, by Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann in 1957". BrainImmune.
  4. ↑ Alick Isaacs, Hutchinson Encyclopedia
  5. ↑ "Alick Isaacs Laboratory Notebooks 1938-1965". National Library of Medicine.
  6. ↑ Bruce, Duncan A. The mark of the Scots: their astonishing contributions to history, science, democracy, literature, and the arts, p. 214. Citadel Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8065-2060-4. Accessed 31 August 2011. "In 1957 Alick Isaacs, born in Glasgow to Jewish parents, discovered and named interferon, an entirely new defense mechanism against viruses."