Michael Alpers
Michael Alpers | |
|---|---|
| John Curtin Distinguished Professor of International Health, Curtin University | |
| In office 2005–2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Philip Alpers 21 August 1934 |
| Died | 3 December 2024 (aged 90) Perth |
Michael Philip Alpers (21 August 1934 - 3 December 2024) was an Australian medical researcher, former long-term Director of the PNG Institute of Medical Research and John Curtin distinguished Professor of International Health, at Curtin University. He died at the age of 90 on 3 December 2024 in Perth, WA.[1][2]
Education
[edit]Alpers graduated from University of Adelaide with a B.Sc. and M.B.B.S. (1961) and from University of Cambridge with an M.A.(1957)
Career and research
[edit]After graduating, he commenced a career, ultimately resulting in investigating kuru, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.[3][4][5][6]
- 1961–1963: Employed as a research officer for Kuru Research in Okapa by the Australian administration of the Territory of New Guinea's Department of Public Health .
- 1964-67: visiting scientist at NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 1964-67;
- 1968–1976: Employed as research fellow, Dept. of Microbiology, Univ. of Western Australia, Perth, where he continued his scientific expeditions and field studies in Papua New Guinea.
- 1977–2000: Director of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR), leading the country's national health research organization.
- 2005-2016: john Curtin Distinguished Professor of International Health, Curtin University
He was an Honorary Senior Research Associate University College London.[7]
Alpers and his work are the main theme of Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery (2010).[citation needed] He is interviewed in The Genius And The Boys (2009).[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Staff Profile - Professor Michael Alpers".
- ↑ "Vale Prof Michael Alpers – PNG Institute of Medical Research". 28 December 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
- ↑ "Latest news".
- ↑ Stocklin, W. H. (2008). "My kuru adventure". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 363 (1510): 3666–3667. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.4031. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 2735548. PMID 18849275.
- ↑ "Michael Alpers (FRS), Kuru, and Papua New Guinea". Health and History. 14 (2): 26–45. 2012. doi:10.5401/healthhist.14.2.0026. ISSN 1442-1771. S2CID 142113962.
- ↑ Gajdusek, D. Carleton; Gibbs, Clarence J.; Alpers, Michael (13 January 1967). "Transmission and Passage of Experimental "Kuru" to Chimpanzees". Science. 155 (3759): 212–214. doi:10.1126/science.155.3759.212. ISSN 0036-8075.
- ↑ "Iris Message".
Further reading
[edit]- Spark, Ceridwen (2012). "Michael Alpers (FRS), Kuru, and Papua New Guinea: The Combined Allure of Problem, People, and Place". Health and History. 14 (2): 26. doi:10.5401/healthhist.14.2.0026. S2CID 142113962.
- Australian Academy of Science. "Featured Fellow—Michael Alpers: Papua New Guinea and Mad Cows". www.science.org.au. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- Bradley, Hazel (7 October 2020). "Top honour for kuru 'guru'". The Senior. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- Royal Society. "Michael Alpers - Professor Michael Alpers AO FRS". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
- Chandler, Jo (12 May 2016). "The man who linked kuru to cannibalism - A chat with intrepid biologist Michael Alpers". Cosmos Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
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