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William C. Campbell (scientist)
William Cecil Campbell FRS[1] (born 28 June 1930) is an Irish-American microbiologist known for his work in discovering a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworms, for which he was jointly awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[2] He helped to discover a class of drugs called avermectins, whose derivatives have been shown to have "extraordinary efficacy" in treating River blindness and Lymphatic filariasis, among other parasitic diseases affecting animals and humans.[3] Campbell worked at the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research 1957–1990, and has become a research fellow emeritus at Drew University.[4][5] Biography Campbell was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland in 1930,[6] the third son of R. J. Campbell, a farm supplier. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin with James Desmond Smyth,[7] graduating in 1952 with first class honours in Zoology. He then attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison on a Fulbright Scholarship, earning his PhD degree in 1957 for work on the liver fluke, a parasite affecting sheep.[5] From 1957 to 1990 Campbell worked at Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research,[8] and from 1984 to 1990 he was a Senior Scientist and Director with Assay Research and Development. He became a US citizen in 1964.[9] One of his discoveries while at Merck was the fungicide thiabendazole, used to treat potato blight, historically a scourge of Ireland.[5][10] Thiabendazole is also used to treat trichinosis in humans.[11] Campbell is best known for his work on parasitic diseases. Japanese microbiologist Satoshi Ōmura isolated and cultured many varieties of natural soil-based bacteria from the group Streptomyces. Campbell led a team at Merck in studying Ōmura's cultures and examining their effectiveness in treating parasites in domestic and farm animals. From a sample of Streptomyces avermitilis, naturally occurring in soil, he derived a macrocyclic lactone. After further modification, it was named ivermectin (generic) or Mectizan.[12] In 1978, having identified a successful treatment for a type of worms affecting horses, Campbell realised that similar treatments might be useful against related types of worms that affect humans. In 1981, Merck carried out successful Phase 1 treatment trials in Senegal and France on river blindness.[3][13] Taken orally, the drug paralyses and sterilises the parasitic worm that causes the illness.[14] Merck went on to study the treatment of elephantiasis. The research of Satoshi Ōmura, William Campbell, and their co-workers created a new class of drugs for the treatment of parasites.[3][13] In 1987, Merck decided to donate Ivermectin (Mectizan) to developing countries.[14] Campbell was instrumental in that decision.[8][15] With the World Health Organization they created an "unprecedented" drug donation program, with the intention of wiping out river blindness.[14] As of 2001[update] an estimated 25 million people were being treated each year, in a total of 33 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.[13][16][17][18] As of 2013[update], the Carter Center's International Task Force for Disease Eradication independently verified that the disease had been eradicated in Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico.[19]
From 1990 to 2010, when he retired, Campbell was a research fellow at Drew University in Madison, N.J., where he supervised undergraduate research and taught courses in parasitology.[13] He has written about the history of parasitology in Antarctic exploration, including the work of surgeon Edward L. Atkinson in Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.[8][20] In 2002, Campbell was elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.[21] In 2015, he and Satoshi Ōmura shared half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on therapies against infections caused by roundworm parasites, using derivatives of avermectin.[3][22] Campbell is the seventh Irish person to be awarded a Nobel Prize, including Ernest Walton who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951[7] and Samuel Beckett for Literature in 1968.[23] Personal lifeWilliam C. Campbell is married to Mary Mastin Campbell.[8] He is a published poet and painter.[24] His recreational activities include table tennis and kayaking.[7] Awards
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