Members of the international committee that chose the 81-year-old Burkitt to receive the award said at a September meeting at which their decision was announced that his selection emphasizes the vital importance of research in Third World countries. It also demonstrates that ground-breaking science can be done inexpensively, they said.
Burkitt says the world of research has become too expensive and too fixated on achievement as measured by exam performance. Given that viewpoint, he acknowledges that the large cash prize associated with the award is a bit ironic and plans to give much of the money away. His work in Africa, which led to the discovery of the viral agent causing Burkitt's lymphoma, shows that good science does not require big money.
Just after World War II, Burkitt was posted by Great Britain's Colonial Service as physician in charge of health care for Uganda. Ten years into his tenure in ...
