Peter Lachmann
Encyclopedia
Professor Sir Peter Julius Lachmann, ScD
, FRS, FMedSci
(born 1931) is a British immunologist, specifically a complementologist. He is emeritus
Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology
at Cambridge University, a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge
and honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
and of Imperial College. He was knighted for service to medical science in 2002
, Vice President and Biological Secretary of the Royal Society
, and Founder President of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences
among many other positions. His posts specifically in immunology have included Head and Honorary Head of the Medical Research Council Group on Mechanisms in Tumour Immunity and Honorary Director of the MRC Mechanisms in Tumour Immunity Unit. He was also at one point Associate Editor of the journal Clinical and Experimental Immunology among his other published work on the complement system and immunopathology. From 1976-99, he was Honorary Clinical Immunologist with the Cambridge Health Authority. Lachmann has also won numerous international accolades including a Gold Medal from the European Complement Network in 1997, the Medicine and Europe Senior Prize, Academie des Sciences de la Santé in 2003.
Lachmann’s primary research interests include microbial subversion of the innate immune response, immunology of measles, vaccines and their relationship with immune response enhancement, systemic lupus erythematosus, a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue, and multiple sclerosis immunopathology, parasite-driven diversity and selective pressures, and insect sting allergies. Some of Lachmann’s views on vaccine research and healthcare include that academic institutions provide much of the original, valuable work with support from funds to develop cost-effective vaccines. In creating these vaccines, Lachmann believes that compound viruses in a vaccine do not interfere with the response or overwhelm the immune system and can actually be beneficial. Lachmann’s interests are not only limited to immunology though as he is also national Patron of Lupus (UK).
Lachmann’s helped produce the Royal Society’s first report on GM crops in 1998. The report, Genetically Modified Plants for Food Use, outlined the benefits of GM plants in agriculture, medicine, food quality and safety, nutrition and health, especially in alleviating food shortage in third-world countries. This caused him to be regarded as a controversial figure by the anti-GM food lobby. In 1999, he tried to persuade the editor of The Lancet not to publish Árpád Pusztai’s research on the adverse effects of GM potatoes on rats on the grounds that it was not sound science. The Lancet’s editor, Richard Horton, received what he described as an aggressive phone call from Lachmann. Someone eavesdropped on this conversation and reported to two Guardian journalists that it was said that "publishing Pusztai’s paper would “have implications for his personal position” as editor. Lachmann categorically denied saying any such thing,but the news made the front-page of The Guardian in November 1999. Lachmann's own account of GMOs and the Pusztai affair can be found in Panic Nation
(2005)
Lachmann remains a vocal proponent of the defence of reason and scepticism in scientific academia also on other topics that extend from vaccine scares to stem cell technology and to alternative medicine.
He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
.
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
, FRS, FMedSci
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the United Kingdom's national academy of medical sciences. It was established in 1998 on the recommendation of a group that was chaired by Michael Atiyah. Its president is John Irving Bell....
(born 1931) is a British immunologist, specifically a complementologist. He is emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology
Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology
The Sheila Joan Smith Professorship of Tumour Immunology was originally established on 2 November 1977 for the tenure only of Peter Lachmann. It was renamed as the Sheila Joan Smith Professorship of Immunology in 1988 and was re-established on the retirement of Professor Lachmann.-List of Sheila...
at Cambridge University, a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
and honorary fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
and of Imperial College. He was knighted for service to medical science in 2002
Biography
Born in Berlin in 1931, he moved to London in 1938. He trained in medicine at Cambridge and University College Hospital graduating in 1956 and obtained a PhD (1962) and ScD (1974) in Cambridge in immunology. He has held a chair at Cambridge University and served as President of the Royal College of PathologistsRoyal College of Pathologists
The Royal College of Pathologists, founded in 1962, was established to co-ordinate this development and maintain the internationally renowned standards and reputation of British pathology. Today the College advises on a vast range of issues relating to pathology...
, Vice President and Biological Secretary of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, and Founder President of the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences
Academy of Medical Sciences
The Academy of Medical Sciences is the United Kingdom's national academy of medical sciences. It was established in 1998 on the recommendation of a group that was chaired by Michael Atiyah. Its president is John Irving Bell....
among many other positions. His posts specifically in immunology have included Head and Honorary Head of the Medical Research Council Group on Mechanisms in Tumour Immunity and Honorary Director of the MRC Mechanisms in Tumour Immunity Unit. He was also at one point Associate Editor of the journal Clinical and Experimental Immunology among his other published work on the complement system and immunopathology. From 1976-99, he was Honorary Clinical Immunologist with the Cambridge Health Authority. Lachmann has also won numerous international accolades including a Gold Medal from the European Complement Network in 1997, the Medicine and Europe Senior Prize, Academie des Sciences de la Santé in 2003.
Lachmann’s primary research interests include microbial subversion of the innate immune response, immunology of measles, vaccines and their relationship with immune response enhancement, systemic lupus erythematosus, a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue, and multiple sclerosis immunopathology, parasite-driven diversity and selective pressures, and insect sting allergies. Some of Lachmann’s views on vaccine research and healthcare include that academic institutions provide much of the original, valuable work with support from funds to develop cost-effective vaccines. In creating these vaccines, Lachmann believes that compound viruses in a vaccine do not interfere with the response or overwhelm the immune system and can actually be beneficial. Lachmann’s interests are not only limited to immunology though as he is also national Patron of Lupus (UK).
Lachmann’s helped produce the Royal Society’s first report on GM crops in 1998. The report, Genetically Modified Plants for Food Use, outlined the benefits of GM plants in agriculture, medicine, food quality and safety, nutrition and health, especially in alleviating food shortage in third-world countries. This caused him to be regarded as a controversial figure by the anti-GM food lobby. In 1999, he tried to persuade the editor of The Lancet not to publish Árpád Pusztai’s research on the adverse effects of GM potatoes on rats on the grounds that it was not sound science. The Lancet’s editor, Richard Horton, received what he described as an aggressive phone call from Lachmann. Someone eavesdropped on this conversation and reported to two Guardian journalists that it was said that "publishing Pusztai’s paper would “have implications for his personal position” as editor. Lachmann categorically denied saying any such thing,but the news made the front-page of The Guardian in November 1999. Lachmann's own account of GMOs and the Pusztai affair can be found in Panic Nation
Panic Nation
Panic Nation is a nonfiction book by Stanley Feldman and Vincent Marks. It was published by John Blake in 2006 . The tagline and theme of the book is "Exposing the myths we're told about food and health".-Overview:...
(2005)
Lachmann remains a vocal proponent of the defence of reason and scepticism in scientific academia also on other topics that extend from vaccine scares to stem cell technology and to alternative medicine.
He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...
.