Donald Metcalf
Donald Metcalf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 26 February 1929 |
| Died | 15 December 2014(aged 85)[3][1] Melbourne,Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | discovering thecolony stimulating factors |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | medicine |
| Institutions | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research |
| Website | www |
Donald MetcalfACFRS[2]FAA(26 February 1929 – 15 December 2014) was an Australian medical researcher who spent most of his career at theWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchinMelbourne.In 1954 he received the Carden Fellowship from theAnti-Cancer Council of Victoria;while he officially retired in 1996, he continued working and held his fellowship until his death in December 2014.[1][4][5][6]
Education, research and career[edit]
Metcalf studied medicine at theUniversity of Sydney,and had his first experience of medical research in the laboratory of Professor Patrick de Burgh. In 1954 Metcalf was awarded a Carden Fellowship from theAnti-Cancer Council of Victoriaat theWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.There he initially studiedvirologyandleukemia,later transitioning tohematology.[7]
Metcalf's pioneering research revealed the control ofblood cellformation and the role of hematopoieticcytokines.In the 1960s he developed techniques to culture blood cells, which led to the discovery ofcolony-stimulating factors(CSFs), includingmacrophage colony-stimulating factor,granulocyte colony-stimulating factorandgranulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor.CSFs arecytokinesthat controlwhite blood cellformation and are responsible for resistance to infection. CSFs are now widely used to boost the immune system for patients receiving chemotherapy, and to mobilise blood stem cells for transplants.
Awards and honours[edit]
In the Australia Day Honours of 1976, he was named anOfficer of the Order of Australia(AO).[8]In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1993, he was promoted to Companion of the Order (AC).[9]
Metcalf has been awarded many international prizes including
- the 1986Royal SocietyWellcome Prize (now theGlaxoSmithKline Prize),
- the 1987 Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research (jointly withLeo Sachs),
- the 1988Robert Koch Prize,
- the 1988 Armand Hammer Prize for Cancer Research,
- the 1989 General Motors Cancer FoundationSloan Prize,
- the 1993Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award,
- the 1993Louisa Gross Horwitz PrizefromColumbia University,
- the 1994Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medalfrom theUnited States National Academy of Sciences,
- the 1994Gairdner Foundation International Award,
- the 1995Royal SocietyRoyal Medaland,
- in 1997, aLifetime Achievement Awardfrom theAmerican Association for Cancer Research,
- In 2008, Grand Hamdan International Award - Stem Cell Research.
In Australia Metcalf has received the 1985James Cook Medal,the 2000 Victoria Prize, the 2001Prime Minister's Prize for Scienceand theCentenary Medal.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Metcalf has four daughters and six grandchildren. He lived in Melbourne with his wife, Josephine, and died on 15 December 2014 followingpancreatic cancer.[11]
His autobiographySummon up the Blood: In dogged pursuit of the blood cell regulatorswas published in 2000.[5]
References[edit]
- ^abcNicola, Nicos A. (2016)."Donald Metcalf AC. 26 February 1929 — 15 December 2014".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.62.London:Royal Society:409–431.doi:10.1098/rsbm.2016.0013.
- ^abAnon (1983)."Professor Donald Metcalf AC FRS".royalsociety.org.London:Royal Society.Archived fromthe originalon 17 November 2015.One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available underCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License."--"Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies".Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.Retrieved9 March2016.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^Hilton, Doug(2015)."Donald Metcalf (1929-2014) Discoverer of hormones that regulate blood-cell proliferation".Nature.517(7536): 554.doi:10.1038/517554a.PMID25631437.
- ^"Prof. Donald Metcalf Carden Fellow".The Cancer Council Victoria.2014.Retrieved15 December2014.
- ^abAlphaMed Press,Dayton, Ohio,USA, 2000.ISBN1-880854-28-7
- ^"Professor Don Metcalf lab page".wehi.edu.au.Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Archived fromthe originalon 10 October 2011.Retrieved3 October2011.
- ^"Professor Don Metcalf".Australian Academy of Science. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^It's an Honour: AO
- ^It's an Honour: AC
- ^It's an Honour: Centenary Medal
- ^Douglas Hilton, Warren Alexander and Nicos Nicola. "A tribute to Professor Donald Metcalf",Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research,15 December 2014.
Further reading[edit]
- Biography of Donald Metcalf,on the website of Alphamed Press.
- Interview with Professor Donald Metcalfconducted by Dr Max Blythe on 31 March 1998, in Video Histories of Australian Scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 2002
- Snapshots from history,the Cancer Council Victoria
- Emeritus Professor Donald Metcalf:2001 Prime Minister's Prize for Science
- Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize,cumc.columbia.edu
- A prof's own adventure,The Age, 25 November 2004
- 1929 births
- 2014 deaths
- Australian physiologists
- Australian immunologists
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
- Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
- Royal Medal winners
- Companions of the Order of Australia
- WEHI alumni
- Sydney Medical School alumni
- Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award