The Scots professor who invented the life changing first cancer vaccine has announced his retirement.
Ian Frazer, 69, from Glasgow co-invented the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer along with Jian Zhou at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Since 2008 the vaccine has been routinely offered to girls aged 12-13 years in Scotland and three years ago the vaccine began to be offered to boys in the same age group.
Around the world his vaccine has gone into the arms of 440 million people and it is having a huge impact with a recognised drop in early signs of cervical cancer among women who have received it. The World Health Organization (corr) says 116 countries now vaccinate against HPV.
But despite his world changing achievement Frazer remains modest despite being dubbed "God's Gift to Women" by an Australian newspaper.
Announcing his retirement as a full-time professor at Queensland University, the Edinburgh University graduate, reflected on his achievement saying: “I think it’s a testament to the benefits of medical research.
“If you really put the money in, get good people involved with the problem, you come up with the solution. We probably need to do more of that because, I think, the most important message I would take out is we face a lot of problems in health that could be solved with research.”
He was headhunted in 1980 by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne.
But the vaccine work began from humble beginnings with Frazer working out of a “broom closet” on the hospital campus when he went into immunotherapy.
The technology has gone on to spawn go-to treatments for cancer, while the new class of mRNA vaccines developed during the pandemic is being repurposed to stop tumours.
Frazer, 69, a dad-of-three sons, announced his retirement at the oration named in honour of Zhou, in Brisbane.
The Chinese-born scientist died without seeing their work with the vaccine come to fruition but Frazer has always acknowledged his contribution.
As emeritus professor Frazer plans to see through his signature immunology research and supervision of two final doctoral students, which he sees as a personal responsibility to bring on the next generation of scientists.
Frazer’s wife Caroline, who he met at university, said she was thrilled by what he had done to “help women everywhere” but said while he was flattered to be called God’s Gift they “had a good laugh” about it.
Before the vaccine came along, cervical cancer was one of the biggest killers of women around the world, killing 250,000 a year.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - sign up to our daily newsletter here.
