Harvey J. Alter MD

Dr. Harvey Alter earned his medical degree at the University of Rochester Medical School and trained in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital and at the University Hospitals of Seattle. In 1961, he came to the National Institutes of Health as a clinical associate. He then spent several years with Georgetown University, returning to NIH in 1969 to join the Clinical Center's Department of Transfusion Medicine as a senior investigator becoming Chief of the Infectious Diseases Section and Associate Director of Research in the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the NIH Clinical Center. Dr. Alter co-discovered the Australia antigen, a key to detecting hepatitis B virus. Later, Dr. Alter spearheaded a project at the Clinical Center that created a storehouse of blood samples used to uncover the causes and reduce the risk of transfusion-associated hepatitis. He was the principal investigator on studies that identified non-A, non-B hepatitis, now called hepatitis C. His work was instrumental in providing the scientific basis for instituting blood donor screening programs that have decreased the incidence of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis to near zero.

In 2013, Dr. Alter was honored with the distinguished Canada Gairdner International Award for his critical contribution to the discovery and isolation of the hepatitis C virus, which has lead to the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents and for his key role in reducing the risk of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis. In 2000, Dr. Alter was awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award and in 2002, he became the first Clinical Center scientist elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and in that same year was elected to the Institute of Medicine. Only a small number of scientists nationally are elected to both these scientific societies.