Harvey J. Alter, MD
2011 Distinguished Achievement Award Recipient

AASLD is proud to recognize the 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award recipient Harvey J. Alter, MD. The Distinguished Achievement Award is given to an individual in honor of his or her sustained scientific contributions to the field of liver disease and the scientific foundations of hepatology, honoring a sustained contribution rather than a single discovery or major achievement. 

Dr. Alter has spent most of his research career at the National Institutes of Health. He is currently designated Distinguished NIH Investigator and serves as Chief of Clinical Studies and Associate Director for Research in the Department of Transfusion Medicine.  He has devoted the majority of his research career to the study of blood-transmitted infections, particularly viral hepatitis. 

Dr. Alter was co-discoverer of the 'Australia' antigen that later proved to be the hepatitis B virus. He was also principal investigator in studies that identified non-A, non-B hepatitis, defined its chronic sequela and later showed its link to HCV. He led the prospective studies of transfusion-associated hepatitis, which was instrumental in providing the scientific basis for instituting blood donor screening programs that have decreased the incidence of transfusion-transmitted hepatitis to near zero. 

In recognition of his research accomplishments, Dr. Alter was awarded the Landsteiner Prize (the highest award of the American Association of Blood Banks), the Inserm Medal from France, and the Clinical Lasker Award. He has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He is also a Master of the American College of Physicians.