Biographical entry
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Bright Sparcs
Biographical entry
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Atkinson, Nancy (1910 - 1999)OBE |
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| Bacteriologist | |
| Born: 9 March 1910 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Died: 21 December 1999 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. | |
| Nancy Atkinson played a major role in the development of bacteriology in Adelaide. She joined the University of Adelaide as Lecturer of Bacteriology in 1939 and progressed through to Reader in the Department of Oral Biology, from which she retired in 1975. From 1942 to 1949 she concurrently worked as the bacteriologist at the Institute of Medical Veterinary Science. Atkinson established and directed the Salmonella Reference Laboratory at the university and discovered a new strain of salmonella, which she named Salmonella Adelaide. She was also the first person in the state to produce penicillin. Atkinson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her salmonella research breakthroughs. Apart from salmonella, her research involved the study of the natural antibacterial properties of Australian native plants and fungi, and the investigation of new treatments for typhoid and tuberculosis. The Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to combat tuberculosis was one of her discoveries. Atkinson was co-founder of the Australian Institute of Microbiology and helped establish the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology - South Australian branch and the Water and Waste Water Association. Outside of science, Nancy Atkinson had an interest in the wine industry and South Australian artists: she and her husband established Chalk Hill winery in McLaren Vales and wrote two books art books(under the name of Benko): Art and Artists of South Australia and The Art of David Boyd. |
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| Alternative Names: Benko, Nancy (married name) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chronology
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Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007 Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre Disclaimer, Copyright and Privacy Policy Submit any comments, questions, corrections and additions Prepared by: Acknowledgements Updated: 26 February 2007 http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P004584b.htm |