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NEW THIS SUNDAY: TWO ON IAN FRAZER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HPV VACCINE

Friday, 27th of September 2013

• TWO ON IAN FRAZER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HPV VACCINE

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Frazer

• BOOK REVIEW, ‘IAN FRAZER: THE MAN WHO SAVED A MILLION LIVES,’ BY MADONNA KING

Review by Dr Peter Thomas at https://ama.com.au/ausmed/“ian-frazer-man-who-saved-million-lives”

The unlikely premise of a young and ambitious Scotsman arriving in Melbourne in 1981 to start his life’s work in medical research and thirty years later being recognised as “the person who has given science a face” in sport-obsessed Australia is almost mythic. It is a journey comparable to the “log cabin to President” metaphor popular in folklore.

Many doctors could relate to Ian Frazer’s early story; academic application, broad outside interests, a supportive family, opportunities (and risks) taken, and occasional luck. Difficult decisions based on family pressures versus career choices will also resonate with many readers.

His years in medical school and later graduate training are unexceptional. Then, feeling the pull of research, he accepts the serendipitous offer of a job at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne and arrives with wife Caroline in 1981 to start work. His work here bears fruit and in 1985, he takes a position as clinical immunologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Brisbane, where this reviewer remembers well the tall Scotsman striding the campus in white lab coat and signature sandals while clutching a tray of test tubes.

His move to conservative Queensland to continue research into sexually related diseases and cancers was, in the political climate of those times, courageous and possibly naïve. It is also counter- intuitive; he replaces the academic excellence and fame of the Melbourne institute for the obscurity of a “broom closet” in the basement of the PAH dialysis building. Inevitably, his comments on the need for publicly funded AIDS clinics in Queensland attract unwanted political attention and threat. He resists and prevails.  

He meets his future research partner, Dr Jian Zhou, while on sabbatical leave at Cambridge in 1989 and Jian follows Ian back to Brisbane to collaborate on finding the elusive virus-like particle of the human papilloma virus, the key to making a successful vaccine. Jian and his scientist wife Xiao Yi Sun are rightly afforded generous space in the book. Their dramatic back-story is also outlined. The premature death of Jian at age 42 years in 1999 naturally affects their work and Professor Frazer’s ultimate success in discovering and developing a vaccine against cervical cancer owes much to Jian. He memorably acknowledges this during his acceptance speech as Australian of the Year in 2006.

As success in research begins to be recognised, so business partnerships are sought and patents claimed to protect discoveries from circling competitors. Inevitably, with the high monetary stakes on offer, an international legal battle ensues for over a decade, which is only favourably resolved in 2007.

Later events are well -described; philanthropic disbursement of the monies flowing from sale of the vaccine, realisation of a Translational Research Institute in Brisbane, roll- out of the vaccine to third world countries, allegiances with sympathetic politicians to counter misguided opposition to the vaccine, and much more. It is a rich story and Madonna King, a respected Brisbane journalist, tells it well. She skillfully deconstructs complex science and points of law that are a necessary part of the narrative, making the book easily accessible for lay and professional readers alike.

In part a medico-legal thriller, in part a celebration of one man’s determination and resolve, the book also serves to remind us of the contribution to medical research and achievements this country has given to the world. To the names of Howard Florey, McFarlane Burnett, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, John Cade, Struan Sutherland and many more can now be added Ian Frazer.