Avrion Mitchison

Nicholas has Avrion " Av " Mitchison ( born May 5, 1928) is a British zoologist, the major contributions to the understanding of immunological reactions in infections, allergies and autoimmune diseases made ​​.

Biography

Mitchison was born in 1928 as son of the Labour politician Dick Mitchison and his wife, the novelist Naomi Mitchison was born Haldane. His uncle was John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, the biologist and his grandfather, the psychologist John Scott Haldane. His older brothers are the bacteriologist Denis Mitchison and the zoologist John Murdoch Mitchison. His children are the cell biologist Tim Mitchison and Hannah Mitchison. He studied zoology at Oxford University. In 1950 he accepted a fellowship at Magdalen College, Oxford, and in 1952 a grant from the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship research in the U.S.. In 1967 he worked at the National Institute for Medical Research ( NIMR ) in Mill Hill, London on different types of lymphocytes in the immune system. 1971 - 1991 he was Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at University College London and research on autoimmune diseases. Mitchison was a co-founder and 1991 - 1996 Head of the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin ( DRFZ ) in Berlin. He now works at the Department of Immunology, Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences, University College London Medical School.

Research priorities

  • Immunological tolerance, immune regulation, Immunogenetics
  • Tissue transplantation, transplantation immunity, transplantation biology
  • Rheumatology, rheumatoid arthritis
  • Cell Biology

He made ​​major contributions on the role of T- lymphocytes and B- lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. He proved that immunity from sensitized donors can be transferred to other individuals.

Awards

  • The Avrion - Mitchison Prize is named after him. The price for Rheumatism Research is awarded for the best experimental, clinical or epidemiological research in the field of rheumatology annually since 1999 by the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin. The prize of 2500 euros is donated by the Ernst Schering Research Foundation for the best experimental, clinical or epidemiological research in the field of rheumatology.
Gilbert Mitchison, Baron Mitchison National Academy of Sciences Integrated Authority File
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