Qui-Lim Choo

Qui-Lim Choo is a Singapore-born scientist, who along with Michael Houghton, George Kuo and Daniel W. Bradley, co-discovered and cloned Hepatitis C in 1989.[1][2] He also co-discovered the Hepatitis D genome in 1986.[3] The discovery of Hepatitis C led to the rapid development of diagnostic reagents to detect Hepatitis C virus in blood supplies which has reduced the risk of acquiring hepatitis C through blood transfusion from one in three to about one in two million.[4][5] It is estimated that antibody testing has prevented at least 40,000 new infections per year in the US alone and many more worldwide.[6]

Qui-Lim Choo
Born
Singapore
Alma materQueen Elizabeth College
King's College London (PhD)
Known forHepatitis C
Hepatitis D
AwardsKarl Landsteiner Memorial Award (1992)
William Beaumont Prize (1994)
Dale A. Smith Memorial Award (2005)
Scientific career
FieldsVirology
InstitutionsChiron Corporation
ThesisNeuronal proteins examined by a two-dimensional gel system (1980)

Early life and education

Choo received his undergraduate training at Queen Elizabeth College in 1973 and completed his PhD in biochemistry at King's College London in 1980.[7] He trained under William J. Rutter at the University of California, San Francisco before joining Chiron Corporation.[7]

Awards and recognition

He was awarded the Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award (1992) and Dale A. Smith Memorial Award (2005) of the American Association of Blood Banks, and the William Beaumont Prize of the American Gastroenterological Association in 1994.[8][9]

References
  1. "Singapore-born scientist pioneers test". NewspaperSG. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  2. Choo QL, Kuo G, Weiner AJ, Overby LR, Bradley DW, Houghton M (April 1989). "Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome". Science. 244 (4902): 359–62. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.469.3592. doi:10.1126/science.2523562. PMID 2523562.
  3. Wang, KS; Choo, QL; Weiner, AJ; Ou, JH; Najarian, RC; Thayer, RM; Mullenbach, GT; Denniston, KJ; Gerin, JL; Houghton, M (9 October 1986). "Structure, sequence and expression of the hepatitis delta (delta) viral genome". Nature. 323 (6088): 508–14. doi:10.1038/323508a0. PMID 3762705. S2CID 4265339.
  4. "Opinion: Nobel-worthy discovery right in our backyard". Canadian for Health Research. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  5. "Science world abuzz as virologist turns down Gairdner award". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  6. Thompson, Gilbert (2014). Pioneers of Medicine Without a Nobel Prize. p. 209. ISBN 9781783263868.
  7. Boyer, J.L; Blum, H.E; Maier, K.P; Sauerbruch, T.; Stalder, G.A (2001-03-31). Liver Cirrhosis and Its Development - Google Books. ISBN 9780792387602. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  8. "List of Past AABB Award Recipients". AABB. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  9. "William Beaumont Prize". American Gastroenterological Association. Retrieved 4 October 2016.


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