Peter C. Doherty
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Peter C. Doherty
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1996
Born: 15 October 1940, Brisbane, Australia
Affiliation at the time of the award: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
When the body's cells are attacked by viruses, the immune system begins killing the infected cells. By studying mice, Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel proved in 1973 how the immune system recognises virus-ridden cells. A kind of white blood cell, the T-cell, kills the virus-ridden cells, but only if it recognises both the foreign substances, viruses, and certain substances from the body's own cells. The discovery has provided an important basis for producing vaccines against infectious diseases, and also for treating and understanding inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Inside the mind of a medicine laureate
Perspectives on life
The benefits of being an outsider
Ever wondered how Nobel Prize laureates think about the world? This video tells how 1996 medicine laureate Peter Doherty's unconventional career made it possible to see things with fresh eyes.
Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.
