Peter Medawar

Sir Peter Medawar
Born	(1915-02-28)28 February 1915 Petrópolis, Brazil
Died	2 October 1987(1987-10-02) (aged 72) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Oxford University
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1960; Order of Merit 1981
Scientific career
Fields	Zoology; Immunology
Institutions	Birmingham University University College London National Institute for Medical Research
Influences	Howard Florey; J.Z. Young

Sir Peter Brian Medawar OM CBE FRS (28 February 1915 – 2 October 1987) was a British biologist.

His work was important to skin grafts and organ transplants.

Transplants of skin and organs from other people are usually rejected. This is an action by the immune system. Medawar showed that sometimes this reaction can be avoided, and why.

He worked on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance. He was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet.

Until he was partially disabled by a stroke, Medawar was Director of the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, London.