E. Donnall Thomas

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Dr. Edward Donnall (Don) Thomas (b. March 15, 1920) is an American physician, professor emeritus at the University of Washington, and director emeritus of the clinical research division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Joseph E. Murray for the development of cell and organ transplantation. Thomas developed bone marrow transplantation as a treatment for leukemia.

Thomas attended the University of Texas at Austin, he studied chemistry and chemical engineering, graduating with a B.A. in 1941 and an M. A. in 1943. While Thomas was an undergraduate he met his wife, Dorothy (Dottie) Martin while she was training to be journalist. They had three children. Thomas entered Harvard Medical School in 1943, receiving a M.D. in 1946. Dottie became a lab technician during this time to support the family, the pair have worked closely ever since.

References

• Fred Hutchinson Research Center. [Nobel Prize: The Don and Dottie Story]
• [Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1990]