Anthony R. Hunter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tony Hunter
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Anthony Rex Hunter
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Anthony Rex Hunter
23 August 1943 United Kingdom
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| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Kinases |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biology |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Aspects of mammalian protein synthesis (1969) |
| Doctoral advisor | Asher Korner |
| Notable students | Jonathon Pines (postdoc) |
Tony Hunter, born on August 23, 1943, is a famous British-American biologist. He is a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California San Diego. He is known for his important discoveries about how cells grow and how they can become cancerous.
Early Life and Education
Tony Hunter was born in the United Kingdom in 1943. He went to Felsted School for his early education. Later, he studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, a part of Cambridge University. In 1969, he earned his PhD. His research was about how proteins are made inside living things.
Career and Discoveries
After getting his PhD, Tony Hunter worked as a researcher at Christ's College, Cambridge. He also spent time at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. He became a professor there in 1982. Since 2008, he has been the director of the Salk Institute Cancer Center. He also helps choose winners for the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine.
Hunter is a leading expert in understanding how cells grow. He studies how cells receive signals that tell them to grow or stop growing. He made a very important discovery about something called "tyrosine phosphorylation." This is a key way cells communicate and respond to growth signals.
He found that when this process goes wrong, it can lead to cancer. This happens when certain proteins, called tyrosine kinases, become overactive. His work has greatly helped us understand how cancer develops. It also helps scientists find new ways to treat cancer.
Tony Hunter also helped start a company called Signal Pharmaceuticals. This company worked on developing new medicines based on his research.
Awards and Honors
Tony Hunter has received many important awards for his scientific work. These awards recognize his major contributions to biology and cancer research.
- In 2005, he won the Wolf Prize in Medicine. This was for discovering how certain proteins (protein kinases) add a special tag called phosphate to tyrosine. This process is vital for many cell activities, including how cells become cancerous.
- In 2014, he received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. He shared this award with Charles Sawyers and Joseph Schlessinger. They were honored for their work that led to new types of successful cancer drugs.
Here are some of the other awards he has received:
- 1987 Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
- 1994 Charles S. Mott Prize
- 1994 Gairdner Foundation International Award
- 1998 Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
- 2001 Keio Medical Science Prize
- 2004 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University
- 2006 Pasarow Award in Cancer Research
- 2014 Royal Medal
- 2017 Sjöberg Prize for Cancer Research
- 2018 Tang Prize
- 2018 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research
