Sir Andrew James McMichael, (born 8 November 1943) is an immunologist, Professor of Molecular Medicine, and previously Director of the

Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine The MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford is a research institute located at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Founded in 1989 by Sir David Weatherall, the institute focuses on furthering our understan ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He is particularly known for his work on

T cell T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their cell ...

responses to viral infections such as

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

Early life and education

McMichael was born in London on 8 November 1943 to Sir John McMichael and Joan Catherine. He went to school at St Pauls and then to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

to study medicine (1962–1968). He went on to complete a PhD at the

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR became part of the new F ...

supervised by 'Ita' Brigitte Askonas and Alan Williamson. His thesis, published in 1975, is entitled ''The clonal expression of antibody-forming cells''.

Career and research

After his PhD McMichael completed his postdoctoral research supervised by

Hugh McDevitt Hugh O'Neill McDevitt ForMemRS (26 August 1930 – 28 April 2022) was an immunologist and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Biography McDevitt was born in Ohio. His father was a surgeon and was I ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. In 1977 he returned to the UK to study the T cell response to HIV infection. His research group have created two HIV vaccines which were tested in phase I clinical trials. McMichael became director of the

in 2000, and remained so until 2012. He founded the MRC Human Immunology Unit in 1998 as honorary director until 2010. McMichael has supervised over 55 DPhil students over his career, many of whom have gone on to become leading immunologists themselves: * Douglas F. Nixon, Professor of Immunology in Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College. * Malegapuru Makgoba, Professor of Immunology and former Vice-Chancellor & Principal of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. * Matilu Mwau Professor and Executive Director of the Consortium for National Health Research * Paul Bowness, Professor of Experimental Rheymatology * Awen Gallimore, Professor of Cancer Immunology * Paul Klenerman, Sidney Truelove Professor of Gastroenterology * Dan Barouch, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Harvard Medical School * Sophie Hambleton, Professor of Paediatrics & Immunology * Suranjith Seneviratne, Professor, Director of the Centre for Mast Cell Disorders and the President of the UK-Sri Lanka Immunology Foundation. * Ling-Pei Ho, Professor of Respiratory Immunology In addition McMichael supervised postdoctoral researchers, including Tomáš Hanke (Professor of Vaccine Immunology), and Sarah Rowland-Jones (Professor of Immunology).

Awards and honours

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(1992) * Member of the

European Molecular Biology Organisation The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) is a professional, non-profit organization of more than 2,100 life scientists. Its goal is to promote research in life science and enable international exchange between scientists. It co-funds cour ...

(2004) * Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology (1998) * Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist award (1998) *

Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) is an award for medical scientists who are judged by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of the ...

(1998) * Sheikh Hamdan Award (2000) * Ambuj Nath Bose Prize,

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

(2001) * Ernst Chain Prize (2006) * Nature/NESTA Award for Lifetime Mentoring (2006) *

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for services to medical science (2008)

Personal life

In 1968 McMichael married Kathryn 'Kate' Elizabeth Cross, they have two sons and one daughter. McMichael enjoys walking and skiing at his house in La Salle les Alpes, France.

Notable works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMichael, Andrew 1943 births Living people Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Knights_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire