John Kerr (pathologist)

John Foxton Ross Kerr AO (born 24 January 1934) is an Australian pathologist. He was the first to describe the ultrastructural changes in apoptosis, and could show that they differ significantly from the changes that occur in necrosis, another form of programmed cell death. For the first time, he placed the roles of cell death in normal adult mammals, and in disease, into scientific focus.^[1]

John Foxton Ross Kerr AO
Born	(1934-01-24) 24 January 1934 (age 89) Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Queensland (BSc, MBBS) University of London (PhD)
Known for	Apoptosis Necrosis
Scientific career
Fields	Pathology
Institutions	Royal Brisbane Hospital University of Queensland

Biography

Education

Kerr studied at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. In 1955, Kerr earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, and in 1957, a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). As a medical assistant, he worked at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. In 1964, he earned a PhD at the University of London.^{[citation needed]}

Academic career

Starting in 1965, he taught pathology at the University of Queensland, and was made a professor in 1974. He became a professor emeritus in 1995.^[1]

Kerr, in collaboration with Andrew Wyllie and Alastair Currie, coined the term apoptosis to describe natural developmental cell death.^[2]

Awards and honours

Kerr has received numerous awards and honours:

• 1974–1992 – Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
• 1993 – Bancroft Medal of the Australian Medical Association
• 1995 – Fred W. Stewart Award
• 1996 – Officer of the Order of Australia^[3]
• 1998 – Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science^[4]
• 2000 – Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize^[5]
• 2002 – Charles IV Prize of Charles University in Prague^[6]

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Sternberg, S. S. (March 1996). "John Foxton Ross Kerr, M.B., PH.D., recipient of the 1995 Fred W. Stewart Award". The American Journal of Surgical Pathology. 20 (3): 380–381. doi:10.1097/00000478-199603000-00020. PMID 8772792.
• O'Rourke, M. G. E.; Ellem, K. A. O. (August 2000). "John Kerr and apoptosis". Medical Journal of Australia. 173 (11): 616–617. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2000.tb139362.x. PMID 11379508. S2CID 38265127.

Notes

1. "Kerr, John Foxton Ross (1934 - )". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
2. Kerr, J. F. R.; Wyllie, A. H.; Currie, A. R. (1972). "Apoptosis: A Basic Biological Phenomenon with Wide-ranging Implications in Tissue Kinetics". British Journal of Cancer. 26 (4): 239–257. doi:10.1038/bjc.1972.33. PMC 2008650. PMID 4561027.
3. "Award Extract - Dr John Foxton Ross Kerr". Australian Honours Search Facility. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
4. . Australian Academy of Science. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
5. [Winners of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize]. Goethe University Frankfurt (in German). Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
6. "Charles IV Prize". Charles IV Prize. Retrieved 15 May 2011.