GLASGOW-born scientist Prof Ian Frazer may not be a household name in Scotland - but his international reputation knows no bounds.

 

He has long been honoured for co-creating the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, which has saved the lives of countless thousands of women worldwide.

Now Prof Frazer, who lives in Australia, has received his latest honour, being named a finalist in the European Inventor Award 2015.

He and his late colleague, Dr Jian Zhou have been put forward in the category "Non-European Countries".

The awards ceremony, which will be held in Paris on June 11, honours pioneering scientists whose life's work has contributed to the advancement of society

Gardasil was world's first cervical cancer vaccine. It has been used in no fewer 120 countries and has been administered more than 125 million times so far.

Benoȋt Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office, said: "Ian Frazer and Jian Zhou are pioneers of modern medicine.

"In their fight against cervical cancer, they focused on the cause rather than on the symptoms of the disease. Developing a vaccine has not only saved many women from a protracted and painful course of treatment, involving surgery and chemotherapy, but also countless lives."

Every year more than 530,000 women worldwide receive the diagnosis of cervical cancer. It is not only the second most common type of cancer in women but it is one of the deadliest, too.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 275,000 women died from it in 2013 alone.

But the vaccine developed by Prof Frazer and his late Chinese colleague has given hope.

The method is ground-breaking because it focuses on prevention, which can be life-saving, especially for women without regular access to healthcare.

Prof Frazer was born in Glasgow in 1953. Both his parents were medical scientists.

He was educated in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and at Edinburgh University, and he worked in hospitals in the capital before emigrating with his family to Melbourne in 1980 to pursue further studies in viral immunology and autoimmunity.

In 1985 Frazer he took up a teaching post at the University of Queensland, where he established the Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research.

He focused on the link between human papilloma virus (HPV) and cervical cancer. By 1991 his team had created a world-first vaccine and began approaching drug companies for investment in development and clinical trials. Fifteen years later the first vaccine was released.

His pioneering efforts were recognized in 2006 when he was awarded the title of Australian of the Year. In accepting it he said: "I was driven by curiosity but also the desire to do good for other people.'

In 2012 he was named as one of seven of Australia's new National Living Treasures. He said of the award: "I think one of the reasons I'm delighted, is because it speaks for the importance of science in Australian society."

"We live for the present and the media is all about the present, but we also have to plan for the future. And that's what science is all about."

That same year, he was also made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

In an interview in 2013, Prof Frazer recalled: "My early training in public health at the Edinburgh medical school included work on cervical cancer screening, which influenced my interest in this disease.

"My former mentor John Munro... inspired me with his motto 'treat the treatable' and I was encouraged by his interest in research to prove whether treatments already in use were the best available."

That same year, Australian journalist Madonna King published a biography of Prof Frazer, entitled Ian Frazer: The Man Who Saved A Million Lives.

King said in an interview: "As a student he did an exchange to an institute in Melbourne and so impressed the doctors that they sent him a telegram asking him to move there to work."

King added: "His determination to develop the technology for a vaccine is inspirational, and he hasn't given up with his research.

"He is a terribly shy man. It took me five years to persuade him to do the book, which tells the incredible story of a man whose vaccine will continue to save lives around the world."

Prof Frazer is now CEO and Director of Research at Brisbane's Translational Research Institute where he researches therapeutic vaccines for patients already infected with HPV.

The vaccines are currently in clinical testing.