An Irish scientist has been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for 2015.

William C. Campbell was given his half of the the prize along with colleague Satoshi Omura for their discoveries in therapies for infections caused by  roundworm parasites. 

The pair split the prize with Chinese scientist Youyou Tu, who worked on a new therapy against malaria called Artemisinin.

Campbell and Omura discovered a new drug, called Avermectin, which combats river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well working against a number of other parasitic diseases.

Originally from Ramelton, Co. Donegal, Campbell was born in 1930, and earned graduated with a BA from Trinity in 1952 before moving to America, where he received a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1957. He continues to work in America, currently employed as a Research Fellow Emeritus at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.

Via RTE 

 

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