New Jersey Scientist Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine

by Alice Magdziak • October 5, 2015 • Jersey Folk, Morris • Comments (0) • 1960

New Jersey is filled with smart people and here’s evidence of just one of them. Former Merck scientist and current Research Fellow Emeritus at Drew University William C. Campbell (pictured on the right) joins two colleagues from Japan, Satoshi Ōmura and Youyou Tu, in winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Dr. Campbell was born in Ramelton, Ireland and moved to the U.S. to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. From 1957 to 1990 he worked at Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research in Rahway. After retirement, he became a Research Fellow Emeritus at Drew University in Madison.

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Campbell, Ōmura and Tu for work they did to combat a variety of parasitic diseases. Campbell and Ōmura discovered a drug that helped people with River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis, and their drug is also being studied for therapy in other parasitic diseases. Youyou Tu discovered a drug that has reduced the mortality rates for
patients suffering from Malaria. Combined, these drugs will probably save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives.

Congratulations, Drs. Campbell, Ōmura and Tu!

(photo courtesy of NPR.org)