John J. Skehel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir John James Skehel (born February 27, 1941 in Blackburn ) is a British virologist, known for research on the influenza virus .

Skehel studied agricultural biochemistry at Aberystwyth University and received a PhD in biochemistry (on ion transport mechanisms in wheat) from the University of Manchester (then University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) in 1966 . He was then a post-doctoral student at the University of Aberdeen (Marischal College 1965-1968), where he worked with Derek Burke and began to deal with viruses, originally to study simple viruses (Semliki Forest Virus) for interferon production . However, he soon switched to more complex viruses such as the flu viruses and avian flu viruses. After his time in Aberdeen, he spent a year at Duke University , where he worked with Wolfgang Joklik on reoviruses and their m-RNA transcription. From 1969 he worked at the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in Mill Hill (Great Britain) on the influenza virus. At first he dealt with its replication mechanism, then also with the surface proteins ( hemagglutinin ). In 1984 he became head of the virology department and in 1987 director of the institute, which he remained until 2006.

Skehel researched how the influenza virus fuses with the host cell and which proteins play a role in this. He discovered that virus hemagglutinin changes its conformation at low pH, which enables the virus envelope to fuse with the endosomal membrane. The discovery was also generally important in understanding the mechanism by which viruses enter host cells. He collaborated with Don Craig Wiley on his work on hemagglutinin .

From 1975 to 1993 he was director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Influenza .

In 1976 he received the Robert Koch Prize together with Mario Rizzetto and Rudolf Rott , the Wilhelm Feldberg Prize in 1986, the Louis Jeantet Prize in Medicine in 1988 and the ICN International Prize in Virology in 1992. In 1984 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society , whose Royal Medal he received in 2003. In 1990 he received the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Society. He has been a member of the Academia Europaea since 1992 . In 1996 he was ennobled. In 1993 he became honorary professor at Liverpool John Moores University and he is an honorary doctorate from that university and from University College London. In 1997 he became Honorary Professor of Virology at the University of Glasgow. In 2014 he was elected as a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences , in 2020 as an international member of the American Philosophical Society . In 2001 he was elected to the Council of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

He was on the advisory boards of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Influenza Center and the HIV / AIDS Vaccine Center of the NIH, the Pasteur Institute and Hong Kong University , was chairman of the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket , advised the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in New York, is a member of Cancer Research UK and serves on the Advisory Boards of Novartis Vaccines and InB Pharmaceuticals in Delaware .

From 1968 to 1971 he was a fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation.

swell

  • International Who's Who, 2000

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ National Institute for Medical Research: Former Directors of NIMR ( Memento of the original of August 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk
  2. ^ Robert Koch Foundation: John J. Skehel
  3. ^ Membership directory: John Skehel. Academia Europaea, accessed January 9, 2018 .
  4. ^ National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected. ( Memento of the original from August 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release from the National Academy of Sciences (nasonline.org) dated April 29, 2014  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nasonline.org
personal data
SURNAME Skehel, John J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Skehel, John James (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British virologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackburn