Baruch Blumberg

Baruch Samuel Blumberg

Birth date	1925-07-28
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York, USA
Died	April 5, 2011(2011-04-05) (aged 85)
Place of death	Moffett Field, California, USA
Nationality	American
Known for	Discovery of the Hepatitis B virus
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1976)

Baruch Samuel Blumberg (July 28, 1925 – April 5, 2011) was an American physician, geneticist, and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is best known for his discovery of the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), which led to the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine.

Early Life and Education

Blumberg was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to a Jewish family. He attended Far Rockaway High School in Queens, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree in physics from Union College in 1946. He then attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he received his MD in 1951. Blumberg later earned a PhD in biochemistry from Balliol College, Oxford in 1957.

Career and Research

Blumberg joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1957, where he began his research on the genetic variations in human populations. His work led to the discovery of the Australia antigen in 1967, which was later identified as a surface antigen of the Hepatitis B virus.

In 1969, Blumberg joined the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where he continued his research on Hepatitis B. His discovery of the virus and the subsequent development of the vaccine have had a significant impact on public health, reducing the incidence of Hepatitis B and liver cancer worldwide.

Nobel Prize

In 1976, Blumberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with Daniel Carleton Gajdusek for their discoveries concerning "new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases."

Later Life and NASA Involvement

In the 1990s, Blumberg served as the first director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, where he worked on the study of life in the universe. He was also a professor at Stanford University and a senior advisor to the NASA Administrator.

Death

Blumberg passed away on April 5, 2011, at the age of 85, while attending a conference at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Legacy

Blumberg's work has had a lasting impact on the field of medicine, particularly in the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis. The Hepatitis B vaccine is considered one of the first anti-cancer vaccines due to its role in preventing liver cancer.

See Also

• Hepatitis B
• Vaccine
• Liver cancer
• Fox Chase Cancer Center
• NASA Astrobiology Institute

References

Baruch S.,

 Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus, 
  
 Princeton University Press, 
 2002, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0691095891,

Alter, H. J.,

 The Discovery of the Australia Antigen and its Relation to Viral Hepatitis, 
 Journal of Hepatology, 
 2003, 
 Vol. 39(Issue: 5), 
 pp. 735-740, 
 DOI: 10.1016/S0168-8278(03)00360-5,

External Links

• Nobel Prize Biography
• NIH History