Harvey J. Alter - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Harvey J. Alter is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

medical researcher, virologist, and physician who is best known for his work that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus is a small , enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae...

.

Alter is the chief of the infectious disease

Infectious disease

Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...

section and the associate director for research of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

(NIH). In the mid 1970’s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...

cases were not due to hepatitis A

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus , an RNA virus, usually spread the fecal-oral route; transmitted person-to-person by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infectious person...

Hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus is a small , enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae...

in 1988.

Alter has received recognition for the research leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus . The infection is often asymptomatic, but chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, which is generally apparent after many years...

. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal

Distinguished Service Medal (United States)

The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...

, the highest award conferred to civilians in United States government public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

service, and the 2000 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease. The award was renamed in 2008 in honor of Michael E. DeBakey...

Early life and education

Alter was born in New York, New York. He attended the University of Rochester

University of Rochester

The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...

in Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, and earned a bachelor of arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

degree in 1956. In 1960, Alter obtained a medical degree from University of Rochester. Alters's post graduate training includes a rotation as a clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland from 12/61-6/64; a year of residency in medicine at University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

Hospital System, Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

from 7/64-6/65; and work as a hematology

Hematology

Hematology, also spelled haematology , is the branch of biology physiology, internal medicine, pathology, clinical laboratory work, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases...

fellow at Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

Hospital, Washington, DC from 7/65-6/66.

Career

Alter has a medical license

Medical license

In most countries, only persons with a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government agency are authorized to practice medicine. Licenses are not granted automatically to all people with medical degrees...

issued by the District of Columbia. Additionally he holds certification by the American Board of Pathology-Subspecialty Blood Banking

Blood transfusion

Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...

and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians/American Society Internal Medicine. Clinical appointments include: director, hematology research at Georgetown University Hospital from 7/66-6/69; senior investigator in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the NIH from 7/69-present; chief of infectious diseases section at the department of transfusion medicine in the Clinical Center NIH from 12/72-present; associate director for research at the department of transfusion medicine at the Clinical Center at NIH from 1/87-present.

Alter's academic appointments include: clinical associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Hospital; Adjunct Professor at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

Texas Biomedical Research Institute , located in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent biomedical research institution, specializing in genetics and in virology and immunology...

in San Antonio, TX; clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University Hospital; and a faculty position at Clinical Research Training Program at the NIH.

Alter came to the NIH Clinical Center as a senior investigator in 1969. He remains at the NIH as a chief of the infectious diseases section and associate director of research in the department of transfusion medicine.

Medical research

As a young research fellow in 1964, Alter co-discovered the Australian antigen

Antigen

An antigen is a foreign molecule that, when introduced into the body, triggers the production of an antibody by the immune system. The immune system will then kill or neutralize the antigen that is recognized as a foreign and potentially harmful invader. These invaders can be molecules such as...

with Baruch Blumberg. This work was a major factor in isolating the hepatitis B virus. Later, Alter led a Clinical Center project to store blood

Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

samples used to uncover the causes and reduce the risk of transfusion-associated hepatitis. Based on his work, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

started blood and donor screening programs that lowered the cause of hepatitis due to this risk from 30 percent in 1970 to nearly 0.

Discovery of hepatitis C

In the mid 1970’s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis

Hepatitis

cases were not due to hepatitis A

Hepatitis A

and hepatitis B viruses. Alter, in collaboration with Bob Purcell and Paige L. Meredith, proved through transmission studies in chimpanzees that a new form of hepatitis, initially called “non-A, non-B hepatitis” caused the infections. This work eventually led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. In 1988 the new hepatitis virus was confirmed by Alter's group by verifying its presence in their stored panel of NANBH specimens. In April 1989, the discovery of the non-A, non-B virus, re-named hepatitis C virus, was published in two articles in Science.

Honors and award

Alter has received recognition for his research including the 2000 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research

for his work leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C. Alter and his co-awardee Michael Houghton were recognized for the development of blood screening methods that essentially eliminated the risk of transfusion-associated hepatitis in the U.S. Other honors for his medical research include the Distinguished Service Medal

Distinguished Service Medal (United States)

, the highest award conferred to civilians in United States government public health

Public health

service. Alter has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

and the Institute of Medicine

Institute of Medicine

The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...

. In 2002 he received The International Society of Blood Transfusion Presidential Award. And in 2005, he received the American College of Physicians

American College of Physicians

The American College of Physicians is a national organization of doctors of internal medicine —physicians who specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illnesses in adults. With 130,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in...

Award for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine, and the First International Prize of Inserm (the French equivalent of NIH).

Speaking of Alter's long research career at the time of the 2000 Lasker Award, Dr. Harvey Klein, chief of the Clinical Center Transfusion Medicine Department noted, "As a young research fellow, Dr. Alter co-discovered the Australia antigen, a key to detecting hepatitis B virus. For many investigators that would be the highlight of a career. For Dr. Alter it was only an auspicious beginning."

Early life and education

Career

Medical research

Discovery of hepatitis C

Honors and award

Further reading