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Nobel Prize Winners
Professor Barry Marshall and Dr Robin Warren were named as the 2005 Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking research at Royal Perth Hospital between 1979 and 1984. Professor Marshall and Dr Warren discovered that infection by a previously unidentified spiral bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, caused gastritis-associated dyspepsia and ulcers, which also increased the risk of stomach cancer. The discovery of the organisms in the stomach lining of patients by Dr Warren was followed by a remarkable experiment by the young medical registrar Barry Marshall, in which he infected himself, treated the infection with antibiotics and recovered. The men worked with the departments of microbiology, gastroenterology and anatomical pathology, and the team developed tests to identify the infection in biopsy samples, blood and breath tests, and very effective treatment strategies with antibiotics. Their landmark discovery has revolutionised the diagnosis and treatment of peptic ulcer disease and led to a reduction in the prevalence of gastric cancer. Dr Warren is a highly regarded pathologist with an interest in gastritis who worked in the Department of Pathology at RPH for many years. He recently retired and is now an emeritus consultant. Professor Marshall continues his work at the NHMRC Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and runs a molecular biology laboratory at the University of Western Australia. Read more at the official Nobel Prize site. October, 2005 |
