Adams, Jerry McKee (1940 - )

Summary

Jerry Adams is noted for his achievements in molecular biology, immunology and the molecular genetics of cancer. Although born in the USA, Adams has carried out most of his research in Australia at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne. He is now joint head of the Institute's Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division, a position he shares with his with his wife Suzanne Cory. Together they and their research team have made many major contributions to medical science. They were the first clone mammalian genes in Australia and discovered (i) that antibody genes encode to recombine in a myriad of ways to help fight infection, (ii) the genetic mutation that leads to Burkitt's lymphoma and (iii) the connection between apoptosis (programmed cell death) and cancer, while studying bcl-2 gene in follicular lymphoma (the most common human lymphoma).

Details

After completing his PhD, Adams was awarded the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral training. Firstly, Adams spent a year working for Professor James Watson at the MRCL of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He then moved to the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire, at the University of Geneva where he trained under Professor A. Tissiéres. During this stay in Geneva he met Suzanne Cory and started their long-term collaboration. Adams and Cory moved to Australia and began working at WEHI where they established the Institute's first molecular genetics laboratory. Their research first looked into how lymphocytes could produce so many different antibodies providing insights into the constant and variable segments of antibodies and how they are rearranged and deleted. Next Adams and his team moved into the study of the genetics of cancer and again made major contributions. In 1982 Adams, and Cory, was made joint head of the new Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division at WEHI and continues to hold this post today. His efforts and achievements have been widely recognized and awarded.

Chronology

1962

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), Emory University in Atlanta, USA

1962 - 1967

Career position - National Science Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellow at Harvard University, USA

1967

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA

1967 - 1968

Career position - Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at the Medical Research Council Laboratory (MRCL) of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK

1969 - 1970

Career position - Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire, Université de Genéve

1971 - 1976

Award - Established Investigator of American Heart Association award

1972 - 1976

Career position - Research Officer at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Victoria

1977 - 1979

Career position - Research Fellow then Senior Research Fellow at WEHI

1980 - 1982

Career position - Principal Research Fellow at WEHI

1982 -

Career position - Joint Head of Molecular Biology of Cancer Division (formally the Molecular Biology Unit) at the WEHI

1982 -

Career position - Senior Principal Research Fellow at WEHI

1982

Award - David Syme Research Prize (with Suzanne Cory), University of Melbourne

1986 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1986

Award - Lemberg Medal and Oration, Australian Biochemical Society

1992

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1993 -

Career position - Research Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Melbourne

2014

Award - Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science

2021 -

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS)

Related entries

Published resources

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6183179. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/56443473. Details
• 'Jerry Adams - Citation at year of election, 1986', Fellows of the Academy, Australian Academy of Science, 2019, https://www.science.org.au/profile/jerry-adams. Details
• 'Adams, Jerry McKee (1940-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475622. Details

See also

• Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture, Australian Academy of Science, 2022, https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/awards-and-opportunities/macfarlane-burnet-medal-and-lecture. Details
• Crawford, Anne, Let there be light: 100 years of discovery at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (Carlton, Vic.: Miegunyah Press, 2016), 149 pp. Details