Alain Townsend facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Professor Alain Townsend FRS FRCP
Alma mater	St Mary's Hospital National Institute for Medical Research
Awards	Canada Gairdner International Award (2000) William B. Coley Award (1989) Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (1992)
Website	https://www.rdm.ox.ac.uk/people/alain-townsend
Academic career
Fields	Immunology
Institutions	University of Oxford Howard Hughes Medical Institute Linacre College University of Oxford
Thesis	Recognition by influenza virus specific cytotoxic T cell clones
Doctoral advisor	Brigitte Askonas

Alain Townsend is a British scientist who studies virology, which is the study of viruses. He is a Professor of Medicine at Oxford University in the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. His research team focuses on understanding viruses like influenza (the flu) and, more recently, ebola.

Professor Townsend studied at St Mary's Hospital, London. After that, he went to the National Institute for Medical Research. There, he focused on immunology, which is the study of how our bodies fight off diseases. He earned his PhD in 1984, with Brigitte Askonas as his supervisor.

Awards and Recognition

Professor Townsend has received several important awards for his work:

• 1989 William B. Coley Award
• 1992 He became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
• 1992 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine
• 2000 Gairdner Foundation International Award