Professor Peter Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has since been commuting between St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne.
His research is mainly in the area of defence against viruses. He regularly devotes time to delivering public lectures, writing articles for newspapers and magazines and participating in radio discussions.
Peter Doherty graduated from the University of Queensland in Veterinary Science and became a veterinary officer. Moving to Scotland, he received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He is the first person with a veterinary qualification to win a Nobel Prize.
Peter is also the author of several books, including “The Beginners Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize”, “A Light History of Hot Air”, "Sentinel Chickens: What birds tell us about our health and the world", "Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know", "The Knowledge Wars" and "The incidental Tourist".
Find out more about Peter Doherty's experience
Peter Doherty's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Helping Themselves: Optimal Virus-Specific CD4 T Cell Responses Require Help via CD4 T Cell Licensing of Dendritic Cells
Read morePeter Doherty's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 15 most recent projects by Peter Doherty.
Project Types
14
Research Grant
1
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 513 most recent scholarly works by Peter Doherty.
Keyword Analysis
News
Displaying the 15 most recent news articles by Peter Doherty.
Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Companion of the Order of Australia
FRSEDIN - Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
HONFLHSDUBLIN - Honorary Fellowship of The Literary and Historical Society of University College of Dublin
FRCPA - Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, Australia
FRACP - Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
FRS - Fellow of the Royal Society
FAA - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
Credentials
Positions
Laureate Professor
Microbiology And Immunology
Royal College Of Veterinary Surgeons
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
American College Of Veterinary Pathologists
American College of Veterinary Pathologists
Australian Society For Medical Research
Australian Society for Medical Research
Scandinavian Society Of Immunology
Scandinavian Society of Immunology
American Assoication Of Pathologists
American Association of Pathologists
Neuroimmunology Society
Neuroimmunology Society
American Association Of Veterinary Immunologists
American Association of Veterinary Immunologists
American Association Of Immunologists
American Association of Immunologists
Australain Society For Immunology
Australian Society for Immunology