John Skehel
{{Short description|British virologist and Emeritus scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sir John Skehel
|birth_name = John James Skehel
|image =
|image_size = 180px
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1941|02|27}}
|birth_place = {{Nowrap|Blackburn, England, United Kingdom}}
|death_date =
|death_place =
|fields = Virology
|workplaces = {{Plainlist|
|alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
- University of Aberystwyth (BSc)
- UMIST (PhD)}}
|known_for = research on influenza virus
| thesis_title = Studies on cation transport in yeast
| thesis_url = http://man-fe.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?vid=MU_VU1&doc=44MAN_ALMA_DS21142780560001631
| thesis_year = 1965
|influences =
|influenced =
| doctoral_advisor = Alan Eddy
| website = {{URL|https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/john-skehel/}}
|awards = {{Plainlist|
- Wilhelm Feldberg Prize (1986)
- Robert Koch Prize (1987)
- Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1988)[https://www.jeantet.ch/en/prix-louis-jeantet/laureats/1988-en/docteur-john-j-skehel/ Louis-Jeantet Prize]
- Royal Medal (2003)
- Grand Prix scientifique de la Fondation Louis D. (2007)}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Anita Varley|1962}}
}}
Sir John James Skehel, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=small|sep=on|FRS|FMedSci}} (born 27 February 1941){{Who's Who | title=SKEHEL, Sir John (James) | id = U35054 | volume = 2016 | edition = online Oxford University Press|location=Oxford}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/Graduation/89186.htm |title=Professor Sir John Skehel |accessdate=2008-11-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219232319/http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/Graduation/89186.htm |archivedate=2014-12-19 }} is a British virologist and Emeritus scientist at the Francis Crick Institute in London. From 1987 to 2006 he was director of the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) at Mill Hill which was incorporated into the Crick Institute in 2016.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607231020/https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/john-skehel/|archivedate=2016-06-07|url=https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/john-skehel/|publisher=crick.ac.uk|location=London|title=Emeritus Scientist - John Skehel}}
Education and early life
Skehel was born in Blackburn to Joseph and Annie Skehel in 1941, and was educated at St. Mary's College, Blackburn and subsequently went to the University of Aberystwyth where he obtained a BSc degree in agricultural biochemistry.
He then completed his postgraduate study at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), where he received his PhD degree in biochemistry in 1966 under the supervision of Alan Eddy, for research on cation transport in yeast.{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=John James |last=Skehel |title=Studies on cation transport in yeast |publisher=University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology |date=1965 |url=http://man-fe.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?vid=MU_VU1&doc=44MAN_ALMA_DS21142780560001631 |oclc=643345784 |access-date=8 June 2016 |archive-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212142227/http://man-fe.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?vid=MU_VU1&doc=44MAN_ALMA_DS21142780560001631 |url-status=dead }}
Career and research
Following his doctorate, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Aberdeen for research, continuing it at Duke University.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
In 1969 he returned to Britain and began work at the National Institute for Medical Research on the influenza virus. In 1984 he was made head of the virology division, followed by a promotion in 1987 to director of the Institute. He was director of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza from 1975 to 1993.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117021938/https://royalsociety.org/people/john-skehel-12289/ |archivedate=2015-11-17 |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/john-skehel-12289/ |publisher=Royal Society |location=London |title=Sir John Skehel FMedSci FRS }} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{quote|“All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” --{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |accessdate=2016-03-09 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925220834/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archivedate=September 25, 2015 }}}}{{cite journal|last1=Skehel|first1=John J.|last2=Wiley|first2=Don C.|authorlink2=Don Craig Wiley|title=Receptor Binding and Membrane Fusion in Virus Entry: The Influenza Hemagglutinin|journal=Annual Review of Biochemistry|volume=69|issue=1|year=2000|pages=531–569|doi=10.1146/annurev.biochem.69.1.531|pmid=10966468}}
Awards and honours
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1984. He was awarded the Wilhelm Feldberg Prize in 1986, the Robert Koch Prize in 1987, the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in 1988, the ICN International Prize in Virology in 1992, the Royal Medal in 2003 for "his pioneering research into virology", and the Grand Prix scientifique de la Fondation Louis D. (shared with Dutch virologist Ab Osterhaus) of the Institut de France in 2007. Skehel was knighted in the 1997 New Year Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=54663 |date=1997-01-28 |page=1095 }} In 1998, he became a founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).{{cite web| url = http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/sir-john-skehel/| title = Fellows| publisher = Academy of Medical Sciences| accessdate = 2015-01-29| archive-date = 30 July 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170730115918/https://acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/sir-john-skehel| url-status = dead}} In November 2013, he was appointed Vice-President and Biological Secretary of the Royal Society. He was made an honorary professor of Liverpool John Moores University in 1993 and given an honorary fellowship in 2007.[https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/about-liverpool-john-moores-university/fellows/honorary-fellows-2007/john-skehel Sir John Skehel: Oration] - website of the Liverpool John Moores University In 2004, he was also awarded an honorary DSc degree from University College London.{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/events/graduation/hc-2004/|title=Honorary Graduands 2004|accessdate=2008-11-15|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626063154/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/registry/events/graduation/hc-2004/|archivedate=2008-06-26|url-status=dead}}
In 2020 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/american-philosophical-society-welcomes-new-members-2020|title=The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist|35em}}
{{Francis Crick Institute}}
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Category:People from Blackburn
Category:Alumni of Aberystwyth University
Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:National Institute for Medical Research faculty
Category:Academics of the Francis Crick Institute
Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society