Rolf M. Zinkernagelprofessor

He is one of the world's top immunologists, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a member of the German National Academy of Sciences, and a winner of the Australian medal. He is now a professor of experimental immunology and director of the Institute of experimental immunology at the University of Zurich. He won the 1996 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with Australian scholar Peter duherty for discovering how the immune system recognizes virus infected cells.

Research fields: immunology, pathology and cytology.

Rolf M. Zinkernagel and Professor Peter C. Doherty of Australia have been working together to discover how the immune system recognizes virus infected cells

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1996. It infects and multiplies in the host cell. Killer T cells destroy infected cells, making it impossible for the virus to reproduce. Zinkernagel and Doherty found that in order for killer T cells to recognize infected cells, they must recognize two molecules on the cell surface - not only viral antigens, but also molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). This recognition is accomplished by T cell receptors on the surface of T cells. MHC was previously identified as responsible for rejection of incompatible tissues during transplantation. Zinkernagel and Doherty found that MHC is also responsible for fighting the meningitis virus.