'The shape of the human being as a function of time': Peter Brian Medawar's research on immunological tolerance and senescence, 1935-1959. (360G-Wellcome-091843_Z_10_Z)

£1,871

Peter Brian Medawar is a highly influential British biomedical scientist. His experiments on immunological tolerance became the basis of his sharing of the Nobel Prize in Medicine with the Australian scientist Frank Macfarlane Burnet in 1960. Afterwards, Medawar's and Burnet's achievements opened new avenues of immunology based on the novel concepts of 'self' and 'tolerance'. Medawar's theoretical study of ageing made another critical contribution to biomedical science. His 1946 paper on the evolution of senescence had a significant impact upon later investigations of ageing process. My project aims at illuminating these two key works from historical perspectives. In particular, I plan to examine how his theoretical and mathematical interest in the changes of living organisms over time, including growth, ageing and evolution, made possible both achievements of Medawar. This historical study is expected to find the place of Medawar's research in the context of his time, including World War II, discourses on ageing population and the works of his colleagues such as R. A. Fisher and D'Arcy Thompson, who analysed life's temporal dimensions using mathematical and theoretical approaches. My research will thus illustrate Medawar's research as a product of the academic and social environment of mid-twentieth century Britain.

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Grant Details

Amount Awarded 1871
Applicant Surname Park
Approval Committee Medical History and Humanities Funding Committee
Award Date 2010-01-18T00:00:00+00:00
Financial Year 2009/10
Grant Programme: Title Small grant in H&SS
Internal ID 091843/Z/10/Z
Lead Applicant Dr Hyung-Wook Park
Partnership Value 1871
Planned Dates: End Date 2010-07-31T00:00:00+00:00
Planned Dates: Start Date 2010-07-01T00:00:00+00:00
Recipient Org: Country United Kingdom
Region North East