Person
Kerr, John Foxton Ross (1934 - 2024)
AO FAA FRACP FRCP FRCPA FRCPath
- Born
- 24 January 1934
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 4 June 2024
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Lepidopterist and Pathologist
Summary
John Foxton R. Kerr has been dubbed the father of apoptosis. He was Emeritus Professor at the University of Queensland and Adjunct Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. His research concentrated on the area of cell death by apoptosis and he was the first to delineate the ultrastructural features of apoptosis, showing it to be quite distinct from necrosis, provoked by tissue injury. He drew attention for the first time to the role of cell death in normal adult mammals and in disease. His landmark paper in 1972 with Wyllie and Currie named this process apoptosis, to emphasise its complementary but opposite role to mitosis. In 2000 he was awarded (joint recipient) Germany's most distinguished award in biomedical research - the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize - for his life-long contributions to apoptosis. Kerr was an enthisiastic lepidopterist, donating to the Australian National Insect Collection his butterfly and moth collections in 2013 and 2015.
Details
Chronology
- 1955
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Queensland
- 1957
- Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BS), University of Queensland
- 1958 - 1959
- Career position - Intern at the Royal Brisbane Hospital
- 1960 - 1961
- Career position - Pathology Registrar at the Royal Brisbane Hospital
- 1962 - ?
- Career position - Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London
- 1964
- Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of London (University College Hospital Medical School)
- 1965 - ?
- Career position - Member of the Royal College of Pathologists (UK)
- 1965 - 1972
- Career position - Senior Lecturer in Pathology, University of Queensland
- 1967 - 1970
- Award - Fellow, College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1970 - 2024
- Award - Fellow, Royal College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1973 - 1974
- Career position - Reader in Pathology, University of Queensland
- 1974 - 1995
- Career position - Professor of Pathology, University of Queensland and Pathologist at the Royal Brisbane Hospital
- 1974 - 2024
- Award - Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (FRCP)
- 1977 - 2024
- Award - Fellow, Royal College of Pathologists (UK)
- 1988 - 1995
- Career position - Adjunct Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research
- 1989
- Award - Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Distinguished Fellows' Award received
- 1992
- Award - Bancroft Medal, Queensland Institute of Medical Research
- 1992
- Award - Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), London
- 1993
- Award - Bancroft Medal, Australian Medical Association
- 1995
- Life event - Retired
- 1995
- Award - Fred W Stewart Award, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre
- 1996 -
- Career position - Professor Emeritus, University of Queensland
- 1996
- Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to medicine, particularly for his research into pathology, cell death and apoptosis and as professor of pathology, University of Queensland for 20 years
- 1998 - 2024
- Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
- 2000
- Award - Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize received
- 2002
- Award - International Charles IV Prize, City of Prague and Charles University
- 2003
- Award - President's Medal, Australia and New Zealand Society for Cell and Developmental Biology
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- 'Obituary: Professor John Foxton Ross Kerr AO FAA 24/01/1934 - 4/06/2024', Newsletter, Australian Academy of Science, 183 (2024), https://www.science.org.au/academy-newsletter/june-2024-183/fellows-update. Details
- Edwards, E. D. and Kerr, J. F. R., 'A new species of Candalides from eastern Australia and notes on Candalides hyacinthinus (Semper) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)', Australian entomological magazine, 4 (1978), 81-90. Details
- Edwards, Ted, 'Professor J.F.R Kerr's butterfly collection donated to ANIC', ANICdotes, 3 (2013), 4. Details
- Edwards, Ted and Turco, Federica, 'News from the Lepidoptera collection [donations from Fred and Nel Gerrits, and John Kerr]', ANICdotes, 8 (2016), 5. Details
- Kerr, J. F., Wyllie, A. H. and Currie, A. R., 'Apoptosis: a basic biological phenomenon with wide-ranging implications in tissue kinetics', British journal of cancer, 26 (4) (1972), 239-57. Details
- O'Rourke, M.G.; and Ellem, K.A., 'John Kerr and Apoptosis', Medical Journal of Australia, 173 (11-12) (2000), 616-617. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/173_11_041200/orourke/orourke.html. Details
- Sands, D. P. A. and Kerr, J. F. R., 'A new species of Hesperilla (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)', Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 12 (1973), 277-83. Details
- Sands, Don, 'Professor Emeritus John Foxton Ross Kerr', Moths and Butterflies Australasia newsletter, 6 (2024), 22-6, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YkiDU8oHXzYk6x5kmw8giNsuO3qdP9i6/view. Details
- Sternberg, Stephen, 'John Foxton Ross Kerr, M.B., Ph.D., recipient of the 1995 Fred W. Stewart Award', American journal of surgical pathology, 20 (3) (1996), 380-1. Details
Resources
- 'Kerr, John Foxton Ross (1934-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475777. Details
Annette Alafaci
Created: 14 February 2006, Last modified: 24 July 2025