Daniel Carleton Gajdusek

Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
Born(1923-09-09)September 9, 1923
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 12, 2008(2008-12-12) (aged 85)
Tromsø, Norway
Alma materUniversity of Rochester, Harvard Medical School
Known forEarly discovery of prion disease
AwardsE. Mead Johnson Award (1963)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1976)
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine

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] 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]

  1. ^ Holley, Joe (December 16, 2008) "D. Carleton Gajdusek; Controversial Scientist", The Washington Post, p. B5.
  2. ^ "Physiology or Medicine 1976 – Press Release". Nobelprize.org. October 14, 1976. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "D. Carleton Gajdusek Papers 1918–2000". National Library of Medicine.
  5. ^ "D. Carleton (Daniel Carleton) Gajdusek correspondence, 1934-1988". American Philosophical Society.