Biographical entry
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Bright Sparcs
Biographical entry
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Adams, Jerry McKee (1940 - )FAA, FRS |
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| Molecular biologist | |
| Born: 17 June 1940 United States of America | |
| Jerry McKee Adams is noted for his achievements in molecular biology, immunology and the molecular genetics of cancer. Although born in the USA, Adams has carried out most of his research in Australia at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne. He is now joint head of the Institute’s Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division, a position he shares with his with his wife Suzanne Cory. Together they and their research team have made many major contributions to medical science. They were the first clone mammalian genes in Australia and discovered (i) that antibody genes encode to recombine in a myriad of ways to help fight infection, (ii) the genetic mutation that leads to Burkitt's lymphoma and (iii) the connection between apoptosis (programmed cell death) and cancer, while studying bcl-2 gene in follicular lymphoma (the most common human lymphoma). |
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| URL: The home page for this entity is located at http://www.wehi.edu.au/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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After completing his PhD, Adams was awarded the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral training. Firstly, Adams spent a year working for Professor James Watson at the MRCL of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He then moved to the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire, at the University of Geneva where he trained under Professor A. Tissiéres. During this stay in Geneva he met Suzanne Cory and started their long-term collaboration. Adams and Cory moved to Australia and began working at WEHI where they established the Institute’s first molecular genetics laboratory. Their research first looked into how lymphocytes could produce so many different antibodies providing insights into the constant and variable segments of antibodies and how they are rearranged and deleted. Next Adams and his team moved into the study of the genetics of cancer and again made major contributions. In 1982 Adams, and Cory, was made joint head of the new Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division at WEHI and continues to hold this post today. His efforts and achievements have been widely recognized and awarded.
Chronology
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Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007 Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre Disclaimer, Copyright and Privacy Policy Submit any comments, questions, corrections and additions Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 26 February 2007 http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P003088b.htm |