Michael Alpers | |
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John Curtin Distinguished Professor of International Health, Curtin University | |
In office 2005–2016 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Michael Philip Alpers |
Michael Philip Alpers was an Australian medical researcher, former long-term Director of the PNG Institute of Medical Research and John Curtin distinguished Professor of International Health, at Curtin University. He died at the age of 90 on 3 December 2024 in Perth, WA. [1] [2]
Alpers graduated from University of Adelaide with a B.Sc. and M.B.B.S. and from University of Cambridge with an M.A.
After graduating, he commenced a career, ultimately resulting in investigating kuru, a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. [3] [4] [5]
He is Honorary Senior Research Associate University College London. [6]
Alpers and his work are the main theme of Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery (2010).[ citation needed ] He is interviewed in The Genius And The Boys (2009).[ citation needed ]
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The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNG IMR) is the principal institution conducting health research in Papua New Guinea with a focus on health problems affecting the country's population.
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Kuru is a rare, incurable, and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that was formerly common among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. Kuru is a form of prion disease which leads to tremors and loss of coordination from neurodegeneration. The term kúru means “trembling” and comes from the Fore word kuria or guria. It is also known as the "laughing sickness" due to the pathologic bursts of laughter which are a symptom of the infection.
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