Gordon Dougan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gordon Dougan
FRS FMedSci
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Gordon Dougan in 2009
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Gordon Dougan
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| Education | Scunthorpe Grammar School John Leggott College |
| Alma mater | University of Sussex (BSc, PhD) |
| Awards | EMBO Member (2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | An Analysis of the Structure and Function of Plasmid Cole 1 (1977) |
| Doctoral advisor | David Sherratt |
| Doctoral students | Mark Pallen Kat Holt |
Gordon Dougan is a leading scientist who studies how germs cause sickness, especially those that affect the gut. He is a professor at the University of Cambridge and works at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK. He is also a Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
Throughout his career, Professor Dougan has done important work on diseases that affect the digestive system. He has also played a big part in helping more people in developing countries get vaccines. Because of his efforts, he was recently named one of the top ten most influential people in the world of vaccines.
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Education and Early Life
Gordon Dougan grew up in Scunthorpe, England. He went to Henderson Avenue Junior School, Scunthorpe Grammar School, and John Leggott College. He then studied Biochemistry at the University of Sussex, where he earned both his first degree and his PhD.
Research and Discoveries
After finishing his PhD, Professor Dougan did more research at the University of Washington in the United States. His research team focuses on enteric pathogens. These are tiny germs, like bacteria, that cause infections in the intestines and stomach.
He is very interested in using genomics to understand how these germs interact with the human body. Genomics is the study of an organism's entire set of DNA. By studying the DNA of germs and people, scientists can learn how infections happen and how to fight them.
Professor Dougan has a special interest in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, which is the germ that causes typhoid fever. He has worked in both universities and companies. Before joining the Wellcome Sanger Institute, he was a professor at Imperial College London. There, he helped get a lot of funding for new science buildings.
Working for Global Health
Professor Dougan has advised many organizations, universities, and committees around the world. He was a trustee for the International Vaccine Institute in Korea. He has also worked with important global groups like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI Alliance. These groups work to improve health and make vaccines available to everyone.
He also spent over ten years working for a company called Wellcome Foundation (now GlaxoSmithKline). There, he helped develop new vaccines and medicines. He is an expert in how vaccines work and how germs cause infections. He specializes in how the body's immune system reacts to vaccines that are given through the nose or mouth. He has written over 400 research papers and edited several books.
Awards and Recognition
Professor Dougan has received many important awards for his scientific work.
He was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2012. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. His nomination recognized his important studies on how bacteria interact with the body's surfaces during infection. It also highlighted his work on Salmonella Typhi and his contributions to understanding infections and developing vaccines.
In 2011, he became a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He was also elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) in 2002.
Beyond the Lab
Outside of his scientific work, Gordon Dougan is a big fan of the football team Scunthorpe United. He is also an experienced beekeeper, which means he takes care of bees and their hives.
