| Authorised form of name | Epstein; Sir; Michael Anthony (1921-2024); virologist |
| Dates | 1921-2024 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | London, England |
| Date of birth | 18/05/1921 |
| Place of death | His home, London, England |
| Date of death | 6 February 2024 |
| Occupation | virologist |
| Research field | Oncology |
| Pathology |
| Microbiology |
| Cell biology |
| Virology |
| Activity | Education:
St. Paul's School, London; Trinity College, Cambridge; Middlesex Hospital Medical School.
Career:
Royal Army Medical Corps (1945–47); assistant pathologist at the Middlesex Hospital; Professor of Pathology, University of Bristol (1968-1985); head of department (1968-1982); served as a fellow at the Wolfson College (1986).
Honours:
CBE 1985; Kt 1991
Awards/Medals:
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 1973 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 15/03/1979 |
| Age at election | 57 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1983-1985, 1986-1991; For Sec 1986-1991; VP 1986-1991
Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 1992
Lectures:
Leeuwenhoek 1983; Florey 1986; UK-Canada Rutherford 1988; Humphry Davy 1992 |
| Relationships | Parents: Mortimer Epstein, writer and translator, and Olga Epstein, charity worker.
Spouse: Lisbeth Knight (married 1950; separated 1965); Kate Ward, virologist (long-term partner).
Children: One daughter and two sons, from first marriage. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 17434
RCN 11333 |
| OtherInfo | Noted for discovering a new herpes virus (later named Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) after him) while searching for a causative virus in a lymphoid children's cancer, Burkitt lymphoma (BL). This was the first discovery of a human cancer virus. An essential step in the search involved growing BL cells in the lab and Anthony thus achieved the first culture of any human lymphocytic cell - a technique important for many other investigations.
His work laid the groundwork for the discovery of other oncogenic viruses including HPV (human papillomavirus), which can cause cervical cancer and is now the target of routine vaccination in the UK.
Avid supporter of Humanists UK. |
| Source | References:
'Address of the President, Sir Michael Atiyah, OM, Given at the Anniversary Meeting on 30 November 1992' in NR 1993 vol 47 pp 109-118
Fellows Directory, Sir Anthony Epstein CBE FMedSci FRS, on The Royal Society Website [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/anthony-epstein-11403/; last accessed: 04/12/2024]
Obituary, Sir Michael Anthony Epstein, on the Lancet website [URL:https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473-3099(24)00242-1.pdf; last accessed: 04/12/2024]
Rickinson, Alan, Obituary, Anthony Epstein (1921-2024), discoverer of virus causing cancer in humans, on Nature website [URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00763-9; last accessed: 04/12/2024]
Obituary: Sir Anthony Epstein 1921-2024, 30 April 2024, on the Wolfson College website [URL:https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/news/obituary-sir-anthony-epstein-1921-2024/; last accessed: 04/12/2024] |
| Code | NA7697 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| GLB/67/42 | M A Epstein, Bland Sutton Institute of Pathology to Brown | 2 February 1966 |
| IM/GA/GRS/8141 | Epstein, Sir Michael Anthony | 1979 |
| EC/1979/10 | Epstein, Sir Michael Anthony: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1977 |