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I’ve always felt incredibly grateful for the talented and purpose-driven people we have in our community. In a year when our county, country, and world have been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s especially meaningful and inspiring to recognize Dr. Harvey Alter – the Chevy Chase resident who earlier this month was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his groundbreaking research in identifying Hepatitis C.
His pursuit of the science behind Hepatitis C for more than 50 years, even when there were no easy answers, has helped save millions from this deadly and often quiet virus.
Dr. Alter’s investigations at NIH in Bethesda helped find the existence of blood-borne Hepatitis cases that could not be explained by the Hepatitis A or B viruses. His research on the occurrence of Hepatitis in patients who had received blood transfusions has led to new diagnostics and medicines, which have virtually eliminated post-blood transfusion Hepatitis cases and cured countless patients from a disease that leads to the deaths of between 350,000 and 500,000 per year across the world.
“One of the greatest thrills for me is identifying the first patient and to see him cured and to see everyone else I have followed over the years cured,” Dr. Alter said earlier this month after receiving word he was being awarded the Nobel Prize.
“If you find something and you don’t know what it is or you don’t know why it is, keep looking. Keep at it. Keep persisting and with a persistent virus, persisting research paid off,” said Dr. Alter, who attributed his ability to continue pursuing answers to Hepatitis C to the support he was given by NIH to continue his research. “For something where you don’t know where it was going, it could’ve just ended at any point. I don’t think this could’ve happened anywhere else but NIH.”
Dr. Alter received the call that he was being awarded the Nobel Prize at 4:15 a.m. from a representative of the Nobel Prize in Sweden, what he described as the “best alarm clock I ever had.”
We’ll be honoring Dr. Alter at the County Council on November 17, an important and timely reminder of how lucky we are to live in a community with NIH – home to the world’s best clinical research center – and with so many extraordinary people committed to improving the health and well-being of millions around the world.
I highly encourage you to learn more about the work of Dr. Alter and his two fellow scientists who were also awarded the Nobel Prize for their work fighting Hepatitis C. Congratulations to Dr. Alter, a true inspiration.
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