Gordon Ada
| Gordon Ada AO, FAA |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
6 December 1922 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 25 September 2012 (aged 89) Canberra, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Spouse(s) | Jean MacPherson (m. 1946) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology, virology, immunology |
| Institutions |
National Institute for Medical Research Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research John Curtin School of Medical Research Johns Hopkins University |
Gordon Leslie Ada AO, FAA (6 December 1922 – 25 September 2012) was an Australian biochemist best known for his seminal contributions to virology and immunology and his long leadership of the Department of Microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University, where Peter C. Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel performed their Nobel winning research in his department. Both Zinkernagel and Doherty held him in high regard, and he was invited by them to attend the Nobel award ceremony and dinner in Stockholm.
Gordon Ada was born in 1922 in Sydney. He studied at Fort Street High School, then at the University of Sydney, graduating BSc in 1943, and MSc in 1946. After completing his Masters he went to London to work for the National Institute for Medical Research, staying in London until 1948. When he returned to Australia, he conducted research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research under director Frank Macfarlane Burnet and was involved in the establishment of the Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Unit with Henry Holden. At the Hall Institute he initially worked on the viruses that cause influenza and Murray Valley encephalitis. He was the first to establish that influenza is an RNA virus and was awarded his DSc by the University of Sydney in 1959. From 1962 he focused on immune reactions, demonstrating that antigens are not present in antibody-producing cells, in support of Burnet's clonal selection theory.
...
Wikipedia