SPEAKER'S PROFILES
Harvey Alter
Dr. Alter has spent most of his research career at the National Institutes of Health. He is currently designated Distinguished NIH Investigator and serves as Chief of Clinical Studies and Associate Director for Research in the Department of Transfusion Medicine. Dr. Alter was co-discoverer of the Australia antigen that later proved to be the hepatitis B virus and was principal investigator in studies that identified non-A, non-B hepatitis, defined its chronic sequela and later showed its link to HCV. His prospective studies of transfusion-associated hepatitis demonstrated how different donor interventions reduced hepatitis incidence from 30% in 1970 to near zero in 1997. In recognition of his research accomplishments, Dr. Alter was awarded the Landsteiner Prize, the highest award of the American Association of Blood Banks, the Inserm Medal from France, and the Clinical Lasker Award. He has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and is a Master of the American College of Physicians.
