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Online exhibition: Catching the worm

When

Sunday, June 28, 2020, 17:30 - Thursday, December 31, 2020, 23:30

Where

www.ria.ie

Tickets

No booking required

Enjoy our online exhibition based on Catching the worm, the memoir of William C. Campbell, Ireland's only Nobel prizewinner for Medicine.

William C. Campbell's quiet retirement changed abruptly when, at the age of 85, he won a Nobel Prize for his work on the discovery of ivermectin. Ivermectin has transformed the lives of millions who suffered from river blindness, and is now being investigated for possible use against COVID-19. In this exhibition, we want to give you a flair of the story that Bill, together with Claire O'Connell, tells in the book: from his childhood in Donegal, the heights of scienfitic research in America, to the discovery of ivermecting and its global impact.

This is a public project of the Royal Irish Academy supported by the RDS in collaboration with Irish Aid and Sightsavers Ireland.

About the book:
In 2015, Dr William C. Campbell's quiet retirement changed abruptly when, at the age of 85, he won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In Catching The Worm, Campbell recalls his early life in Donegal and studying zoology in Trinity College Dublin, then moving to the United States to work as a parasitologist. While working with the company Merck, he helped to discover several drugs to control parasitic worms. One of those drugs, ivermectin, has spared millions of people from the devastating effects of river blindness. Through his memoir, Campbell provides a snapshot of growing up in Ireland before and during World War II, as well as insights into science, the arts, teaching, family and what really matters in life. Catching the worm is published by the Royal Irish Academy in partnership with the RDS. You can purchase the book here.

About the authors:
Dr William C. Campbell is a biologist and Nobel laureate. From Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, he played roles in the discovery and development of several new treatments against parasitic worms. He is an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2002, he was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences and in 2015, he shared one half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Professor Satoshi Omura 'for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites'. Bill lives in North Andover with his wife, Mary. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Dr Claire O'Connell is a scientist-turned-writer. From Dublin, Ireland, she studied science at University College Dublin, graduating in 1998 with a PhD in cell biology. She also holds a Master's in Science Communication from Dublin City University. Since 2005, she has written extensively for Silicon Republic and for The Irish Times. In 2016, she was named Irish Science Writer of the Year. Claire lives in Dublin with her husband, Fearghal, and their two children.

 

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