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Issue 52 | May 2009
Basil Hetzel
The first Chief of CSIRO Human Nutrition, Dr Basil Hetzel, has received the prestigious 2009 Pollin Prize for his research into the effects of iodine deficiency on brain development in newborns.
Dr Hetzel is a renowned medical pioneer and ranks as one of Australia's National Trust's Living Treasures. He was Chief of CSIRO Human Nutrition from 1975 until 1985.
Dr Hetzel's work led to the implementation of a worldwide campaign supporting salt iodization programs aimed at eradicating iodine deficiency disorders.
The Pollin Prize, the largest international award for paediatric research, was recently awarded to Dr Hetzel at the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in the US. Dr Hetzel will share half of the $200,000 prize with a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, Paul Fogarty.
The Director of CSIRO's Preventative Health Flagship, Dr Richard Head, says Dr Hetzel's work has been the epitome of research excellence in his delivery of translational science to the world community.
'He is one of our cherished medical scientists and in addition to his outstanding achievements, has inspired a generation of Australia's leading researchers,' Richard says.
'His work on identifying iodine deficiency as the most common preventable cause of brain damage, and his tireless championing of salt iodization programs, has been estimated to have benefited 80 million newborns. This is comparable to the success of public health campaigns designed to eliminate small pox and polio.'
Dr Hetzel's interest in the effects of iodine deficiency and their eradication began in 1964. Iodine deficiency can lead to goitre and if more severe, to retarded growth and development, particularly brain development. During the period 1964-72 his group developed – in conjunction with the Papua New Guinea Health Department – the use of iodized oil injections for the correction of severe iodine deficiency. It was the first to show that the effects on the brain could be prevented by correction before pregnancy. This method has now been applied on a massive scale in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
While Chief of CSIRO Human Nutrition, Dr Hetzel led a team of scientists that established, for the first time, the effect of iodine deficiency on brain development in animal models including the marmoset and sheep.
Dr Hetzel is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Adelaide and Chairman Emeritus of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders.
