Jerry Adams
{{short description|Australian-American molecular biologist (born 1940)}}
{{Distinguish|Gerry Adams (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Jerry Adams
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|FRS|FAA|FAHMS|FRSV}}
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age |1940|df=yes|6|17}}
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| nationality = Australian-American
| fields = Genetics, molecular biology
| workplaces = {{plainlist|
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| education = {{plainlist|
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| known_for = Cloning mammalian genes
| awards =
| spouse = Suzanne Cory
| children = 2
}}
Jerry McKee Adams (born 17 June 1940) is an Australian-American molecular biologist whose research into the genetics of haemopoietic differentiation and malignancy, led him and his wife, Professor Suzanne Cory, to be the first two scientists to pioneer gene cloning techniques in Australia, and to successfully clone mammalian genes.
Adams currently shares (with Andreas Strasser) the position of Joint-Head of the Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne (Australia). Their research, following that by Susumu Tonegawa, also led to the discovery that antibody genes encode as bits and pieces, that can recombine in a myriad of ways to help fight infection; they also confirmed earlier work by Shen-Ong & Cole, Leder, Hood, Croce, and Hayward that genetic mutation leads to Burkitt's lymphoma, a malignancy of antibody-producing cells, called "B lymphocytes".
It was in Adams' lab that his PhD student, David Vaux, made the connection between apoptosis (programmed cell death) and cancer, while studying the bcl-2 gene in follicular lymphoma, the most common human lymphoma.
Career
He studied for his B.Sc. at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. After completing his PhD at the Harvard University, Adams was awarded the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral training. He spent a year working under Professor James Watson at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, during which he met Suzanne Cory, and started their long-term collaboration. They moved to the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire, at the University of Geneva, where they worked under Professor A. Tissiéres. Adams and Cory subsequently moved to Australia, and began working at WEHI where they established the institute's first molecular genetics laboratory.
Their research first looked into how lymphocytes could produce so many different antibodies, providing insights into the constant and variable segments of antibodies, and how they are rearranged and deleted. Next, Adams and his team moved into the study of the genetics of cancer.
In 2007, Adams was appointed member of the Medical Research Advisory Committee at the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF). He is part of a group of leading scientists who assess applications for grants for medical research received by the ACRF.{{cite web|title=ACRF Medical Research Advisory Committee|url=http://www.acrf.com.au/about-acrf/medical-research-advisory-committee/|publisher=Australian Cancer Research Foundation|accessdate=10 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518021712/https://acrf.com.au/about-acrf/medical-research-advisory-committee/|archive-date=18 May 2016|url-status=dead}}
Honours and recognition
Adams was awarded the Lemberg Medal in 1986.{{Cite web |title=Lemberg Medal Winners |url=https://www.asbmb.org.au/waldronsmith.eventsair.com/lemberg-medal-winners |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology }}{{Dead link|date=October 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1992{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/jerry-adams-10965/|title=Jerry Adams-Biography|publisher= Royal Society|accessdate= 22 February 2017}} and of the Royal Society of Victoria (FRSV) in 1997.{{Cite news|url=https://rsv.org.au/about-us/fellows/|title=Elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Victoria – The Royal Society of Victoria|work=The Royal Society of Victoria|access-date=2018-06-27|language=en-US}} In 2014 he was awarded the Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture by the Australian Academy of Science.{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org.au/opportunities-scientists/recognition/honorific-awards/career-awards/macfarlane-burnet-medal-and|title=Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture|publisher= Australian Academy of Science|accessdate= 22 February 2017}} He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2021.{{Cite web|date=2021-10-26|title=29 new Fellows elected|url=https://aahms.org/news/29-new-fellows-elected/|access-date=2021-10-29|website=AAHMS – Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences|language=en-AU}}
Private life
He is married to his fellow scientist and collaborator Suzanne Cory; they have 2 children.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://pubget.com/profile/author/adams%20jm Adams JM] Author Profile Page on Pubget
- [https://archive.today/20121230172705/http://www.acrf.com.au/about-acrf/medical-research-advisory-committee/professor-jerry-m-adams-phd-faa-frs/ACRF MRAC] Biography courtesy of Australian Cancer Research Foundation
Bibliography
- {{cite journal |author=Adams JM, Cory S |title=The Bcl-2 protein family: arbiters of cell survival |journal=Science |volume=281 |issue=5381 |pages=1322–6 |date=August 1998|pmid=9735050 |doi=10.1126/science.281.5381.1322}}
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Category:21st-century American biologists
Category:Australian molecular biologists
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Australian fellows of the Royal Society
Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science
Category:Fellows of the AACR Academy
Category:Australian emigrants to the United States
Category:Australian expatriates in England
Category:Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences