Dr Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty trained as a veterinarian, spent a decade researching infectious diseases of domestic animals and has, for the past 40+ years been involved in basic biomedical research. He and his Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for a discovery made at the John Curtin School of Medical Research and the ideas they developed (from 1973-5) concerning the nature of cell-mediated immunity and transplantation. Named Australian of the Year in 1997, he became committed to the public communication of science and has, while continuing his involvement with talented young researchers, written four “trade” books: “The beginner’s guide to winning the Nobel Prize” (2005), “A light history of hot air”(2007), “Sentinel chickens: what birds tell us about our health and the world” (2012), and “Pandemics: what everyone needs to know” (2013).  His next book will be on science in the public space.