NIH Eminent Scientist Profiles

Harvey J. Alter (1935-Present)

Biography

Alter dedicated his career to studies intended to ensure the safety of blood transfusions. In 1963, with Baruch Blumberg, he co-discovered the Australia antigen, the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBV), which led to isolating HBV and ultimately creating a vaccine to prevent infection. In the 1970s, while analyzing blood from NIH patients and blood donors, Alter discovered what he then called non-A, non-B hepatitis. This led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus by 1988 as well as screening tests that reduced the risk of contracting hepatitis via a blood transfusion to nearly zero. Later in his career, Alter worked on a DNA approach to vaccines.

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Resources 

Oral Histories

• Alter, Harvey 1998 Oral History Page, PDF 
• Alter, Harvey 2002 Oral History Page, PDF

Non-Journal Sources

• NIH Intramural Research Program Website
• National Academy of Sciences Member Directory
• The Unpredictable Payoffs of Basic Research: Hepatitis

Journal Sources:

• Reflections on the History of HCV: A Posthumous Examination, Harvey J. Alter. ,Patrizia Farci, Jens Bukh, Robert H. Purcell, Clinical Liver Disease, 15, 564 (2020).
• The road not taken or how I learned to love the liver: A personal perspective on hepatitis history. Harvey J. Alter, Hepatology, 59, 4 (2014)
• Detection of MLV-related virus gene sequences in blood of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy blood donors, Shyh-Ching Lo, Natalia Pripuzova, Bingjie Li, Anthony L. Komaroff, Guo-Chiuan Hung, Richard Wang, and Harvey J. Alter, PNAS, 107, 15874 (2010).
• Detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus in prospectively followed transfusion recipients with acute and chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis. Alter HJ, Purcell RH, Shih JW, Melpolder JC, Houghton M, Choo QL, Kuo G.  N Engl J Med., 321(22):1494-500 (1989).
• Posttransfusion hepatitis after exclusion of commercial and hepatitis-B antigen-positive donors. Alter HJ, Holland PV, Purcell RH, Lander JJ, Feinstone SM, Morrow AG, Schmidt PJ.  Ann Intern Med.;77(5):691-9 (1972).

• A "New" Antigen in Leukemia, Seralumberg BS, Alter HJ, Visnich S. . JAMA.; 191:541-6 (1965).

Available Files

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