Graduate's Nobel success

Achievement

The University of Adelaide's most recent Nobel Laureate once again exemplifies the quality of graduates who have been recognised worldwide for their creativity, knowledge and skills.

And 1961 Medicine graduate Dr J. Robin Warren, who last month jointly received the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine with Professor Barry Marshall, joins an impressive list of University of Adelaide scientists who have made an impact on people's lives through their research.

Dr Warren and Professor Marshall demonstrated the association between peptic ulcers and a new species of bacteria they had discovered called Helicobacter pylori. Eradication of the bacteria resulted in healing of gastritis and the ulcers rarely recurred.

University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor Professor James McWha congratulated Dr Warren on this exceptional achievement.

"I congratulate Dr Warren for being awarded the Nobel Prize in recognition of his contribution to medicine," Professor McWha said. "It is always a proud moment when a graduate excels, especially on the world stage."

"I am sure everyone at the university will be as thrilled as I am at Dr Warren's achievement."
With Dr Warren's success, the University of Adelaide is now directly associated with four of Australia's 12 Nobel Laureates, and one international recipient.

The other winners are:

• Father and son team William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg became the first Australians to win the award when they won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. William Henry was a Professor of Maths and Physics at the University while William Lawrence - still the youngest person to have won a Nobel Prize, at age 25 - graduated in Mathematics in 1908.
  
• Howard Walter Florey was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1945 for his pioneering work in pencillin after graduating in Medicine from Adelaide in 1921.
  
• South African Dr JM Coetzee, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, is an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide's Discipline of English.

Story by Howard Salkow