during my undergrad at uoft, we heard endlessly about insulin and how it was discovered at uoft by Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best. every human biology course mentioned this remarkable feat at least once during the course of the semester.
---all you life sci grads from uoft know what i'm talking about!
here at UQ there is something that they are even MORE proud of. if you've been keeping up with your medical journals, you'll know what i'm talking about.
i'm talking about Dr. Ian Frazer and his discovery of the cervical cancer vaccine. for a little backgroung info: cervical cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in women worldwide. the human papillomavirus (HPV) is believed to be the cause of virtually all cervical cancers. SO... just like the rubella vaccine that you get as a baby, there is now a vaccine that protects against cerival cancer (usually given around 11 or 12 years of age).
and we hear about this vaccine (Gardasil) / Ian Frazer / HPV / cervical cancer on what seems like an average of once per week. i kid you not. i swear! if i've learned just one thing this year, it's that Ian Frazer is the 2006 Australian of the Year, and he invented a vaccine for cervical cancer. that is all i know.
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