Background
American Dental Association, Gordon was born on December 6, 1922 in Sydney. Son of W. L. Ada and Erica Flower.
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Gordon Leslie American Dental Association
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Gordon Leslie Ada Association for the Study of Internal Fixation, Federal Aviation Administration was an Australian biochemist best known for his seminal contributions to virology and immunology and his long leadership of the Department of Microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University, where Peter C. Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel performed their Nobel winning research in his department.
Education
He studied at Fort Street High School, then at the University of Sydney, graduating Bachelor of Science in 1943, and Master of Science in 1946.
Career
Both Zinkernagel and Doherty held him in high regard, and he was invited by them to attend the Nobel award ceremony and dinner in Stockholm. After completing his Masters he went to London to work for the National Institute for Medical Research, staying in London until 1948. When he returned to Australia, he conducted research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research under director Frank Macfarlane Burnet and was involved in the establishment of the Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Unit with Henry Holden.
At the Hall Institute he initially worked on the viruses that cause influenza and Murray Valley encephalitis.
He was the first to establish that influenza is an Ribonucleic acid virus and was awarded his Doctor of Science by the University of Sydney in 1959. From 1962 he focused on immune reactions, demonstrating that antigens are not present in antibody-producing cells, in support of Burnet"s clonal selection theory.
In 1968 Ada was appointed head of the Microbiology Department at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University, taking over from Frank Fenner. He held the position for 20 years.
During his period of leadership the school became an international centre for the analysis of T cell-mediated immunity.
He was also active in the World Health Organisation from 1971, his involvement lasting over 20 years. While retaining his Australian base, he spent substantial time in the United States from 1988, becoming Associate Director and then Director of Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore. His latter years in science were spent as a visiting Professor at the John Curtin School, where he was involved in the development of a candidate Human Immunodeficiency Virus vaccine.
During that time he also wrote a very readable and informative popular science book on immunization, Vaccination: The Facts, the Fears, the Future published in 2001.
He died on 25 September 2012.
Membership
And; Scientific and Technology Advisory Committee World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme and World Bank Special Programme on Tropical Diseases. Global Advisory Council for Medical Research, World Health Organization 1981-1984.
Interests
Connections
Married Jean MacPherson in 1946.
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Born
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Died
September 25, 2012 (aged 89) -
Nationality
Australian