Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
American medical researcher and Nobel Prize laureate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (/ˈɡaɪdəʃɛk/ GHY-də-shek;[1] September 9, 1923 – December 12, 2008) was an American physician and medical researcher who was the co-recipient (with Baruch S. Blumberg) of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for work on the transmissibility of kuru,[2] implying the existence of an infectious agent, which he named an 'unconventional virus'.[3]
Daniel Carleton Gajdusek | |
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Born | (1923-09-09)September 9, 1923 |
Died | December 12, 2008(2008-12-12) (aged 85) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Rochester, Harvard Medical School |
Known for | Early discovery of prion disease |
Awards | E. Mead Johnson Award (1963) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1976) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Medicine |
In 1996, Gajdusek was charged with child molestation and, after being convicted, spent 12 months in prison before entering a self-imposed exile in Europe, where he died a decade later. His papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland[4] and at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[5]