Sir Peter Karel, Baron Piot, KCMG,FRCP,FFPH,FMedSci (born 17 February 1949)[1] is a Belgian-British microbiologist known for his research into Ebola and AIDS.
After helping discover the Ebola virus in 1976 and leading efforts to contain the first-ever recorded Ebola epidemic that same year, Piot became a pioneering researcher into AIDS. He has held key positions in the United Nations and World Health Organization involving AIDS research and management. He has also served as a professor at several universities worldwide. He is the author of 16 books and over 600 scientific articles.
Early life and educationedit
Piot was born in Leuven, Belgium.[1] His father was a civil servant who worked with agricultural exports and his mother ran a construction company. Piot is the oldest of two brothers and a sister.[1]
In 1976, while working at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Piot was part of a team that observed a Marburg-like virus in a sample of blood taken from a sick nun working in Zaire.[3][4] Piot and his colleagues subsequently traveled to Zaire as part of an International Commission set up by the Government of Zaire to help quell the outbreak.[1] The International Commission made key discoveries into how the virus spread, and traveled from village to village, spreading information and putting the ill and those who had come into contact with them into quarantine. The epidemic was already waning when the International Commission arrived, thanks to measures taken by local and national authorities, and it finally stopped in three months, after it had killed almost 300 people.[5] The events were dramatised by Mike Walker on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014 in a production by David Morley. Piot narrated the programme.[6]
Piot has received the majority of the credit for discovering Ebola, since in 1976, it was claimed he was the one to receive blood samples while working in a lab at the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.[2] The samples were once claimed to be originally sent by Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, a Congolese doctor who obtained the blood samples from those sickened with a mysterious disease in then-Zaire, later discovered to be Ebola. In 2012, Piot published a memoir entitled No Time to Lose which chronicles his professional work, including the discovery of the Ebolavirus; he mentions Muyembe in passing rather than as a co-discoverer.[7] In a 2016 Journal of Infectious Disease article, co-signed by most of the actors from that first outbreak, including Peter Piot and Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the claims by both Piot and Muyembe to have played a significant role in the early discovery of Ebola have been refuted.[8] Piot stated in 2019 that "my book was not an attempt to write the history of Ebola, but more my personal experience".[9]
In 2014, in the face of an unprecedented Ebola epidemic in western Africa, Piot and other scientists called for the emergency release of the experimental ZMapp vaccine for use on humans before it had undergone clinical testing on humans.[12] That year, he was appointed by Director General Margaret Chan to the World Health Organization's Advisory Group on the Ebola Virus Disease Response, co-chaired by Sam Zaramba and David L. Heymann.[13] He also chaired an independent panel convened by Harvard Global Health Institute and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine into the national and international response to the epidemic, which sharply criticised the response of the WHO and put forward ten recommendations for the body's reorganisation.[14] In February 2020, he criticised the delay in declaring the 2019–20 novel coronavirus outbreak focused on Hubei, China, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and advocated a five-point scale for outbreaks, rather the current binary (emergency/no emergency) system.[15]
In 2020, Piot was appointed to the European Commission’s advisory panel on COVID-19, co-chaired by Ursula von der Leyen and Stella Kyriakides.[16] In the preparations for the Global Health Summit hosted by the European Commission and the G20 in May 2021, Piot co-chaired the event's High Level Scientific Panel.[17]
Personal lifeedit
In May 2020, Piot disclosed that he had had COVID-19.[18]
Piot is fluent in English, French, and Dutch.[2] He is married to the American anthropologist Heidi Larson.[19]
Other activitiesedit
Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the Strategy Group on Health (since 2020)[20]
Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG), Robert Koch Institute (RKI), member of the scientific advisory board (since 2020)[21]
Exemplars in Global Health, member of the senior advisory board (since 2020)[22]
2002: Jonathan Dimbleby (TV series) – episode: "The AIDS Crisis in Africa"
2006: Frontline (TV series documentary) – episode: "The Age of AIDS"
2006: 60 Minutes (TV series documentary) – episode: "The New Space Race/Fighting AIDS/Immortality"
2009: House of Numbers: Anatomy of an Epidemic (Documentary)
2014: Horizon: Ebola: The Search for a Cure (TV series documentary)
2017: Heart of the Matter (documentary short)
2017: Unseen Enemy (documentary)
Selected works and publicationsedit
Scholia has an author profile for Peter Piot.
Selected worksedit
Piot, Peter (2013). No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses. New York; London: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-08411-5. OCLC 916025971.
Piot, Peter (2015). AIDS: Between Science and Politics. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-16626-3. OCLC 946549752.
Selected publicationsedit
Pattyn, S.; Groen, G.vander; Jacob, W.; Piot, P.; Courteille, G. (March 1977). "Isolation of Marburg-like virus from a case of haemorrhagic fever in Zaire". The Lancet. 309 (8011): 573–574. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(77)92002-5. PMID 65663. Wikidata ()
Members of the International Commission (1978). "Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Zaire, 1976". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 56 (2): 271–93. PMC2395567. PMID 307456. Wikidata ()
Cameron, D.William; D'Costa, LourdesJ; Maitha, GregoryM; Cheang, Mary; Piot, Peter; Simonsen, J.Neil; Ronald, AllanR; Gakinya, MichaelN; Ndinya-Achola, J.O; Brunham, RobertC; Plummer, FrancisA (August 1989). "Female to Male Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: Risk Factors for Seroconversion in Men". The Lancet. 334 (8660): 403–407. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(89)90589-8. PMID 2569597. S2CID 7249443. Wikidata ()
Piot, Peter; Bartos, Michael; Ghys, Peter D.; Walker, Neff; Schwartländer, Bernhard (April 2001). "The global impact of HIV/AIDS". Nature. 410 (6831): 968–973. Bibcode:2001Natur.410..968P. doi:10.1038/35073639. PMID 11309626. S2CID 4373421. Wikidata ()
Piot, Peter (August 2006). "AIDS: from crisis management to sustained strategic response". The Lancet. 368 (9534): 526–530. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69161-7. PMID 16890840. Wikidata ()
Breman, Joel G.; Heymann, David L.; Lloyd, Graham; McCormick, Joseph B.; Miatudila, Malonga; Murphy, Frederick A.; Muyembé-Tamfun, Jean-Jacques; Piot, Peter; Ruppol, Jean-François; Sureau, Pierre; van der Groen, Guido; Johnson, Karl M. (15 October 2016). "Discovery and Description of Ebola Zaire Virus in 1976 and Relevance to the West African Epidemic During 2013–2016". Journal of Infectious Diseases. 214 (suppl 3): S93–S101. doi:10.1093/INFDIS/JIW207. PMC5050466. PMID 27357339. Wikidata ()
Kelly-Cirino, Cassandra D; Nkengasong, John; Kettler, Hannah; Tongio, Isabelle; Gay-Andrieu, Françoise; Escadafal, Camille; Piot, Peter; Peeling, Rosanna W; Gadde, Renuka; Boehme, Catharina (February 2019). "Importance of diagnostics in epidemic and pandemic preparedness". BMJ Global Health. 4 (Suppl 2): e001179. doi:10.1136/BMJGH-2018-001179. PMC6362765. PMID 30815287. Wikidata ()
Bekker, Linda-Gail; Ratevosian, Jirair; Spencer, Julia; Piot, Peter; Beyrer, Chris (1 March 2019). "Governance for health: the HIV response and general global health". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 97 (3): 170–170A. doi:10.2471/BLT.19.230417. PMC6453319. PMID 30992627. Wikidata ()
Dwyer-Lindgren, Laura; Cork, Michael A.; Sligar, Amber; Steuben, Krista M.; Wilson, Kate F.; Provost, Naomi R.; Mayala, Benjamin K.; VanderHeide, John D.; Collison, Michael L.; Hall, Jason B.; Biehl, Molly H.; Carter, Austin; Frank, Tahvi; Douwes-Schultz, Dirk; Burstein, Roy; Casey, Daniel C.; Deshpande, Aniruddha; Earl, Lucas; El Bcheraoui, Charbel; Farag, Tamer H.; Henry, Nathaniel J.; Kinyoki, Damaris; Marczak, Laurie B.; Nixon, Molly R.; Osgood-Zimmerman, Aaron; Pigott, David; Reiner, Robert C.; Ross, Jennifer M.; Schaeffer, Lauren E.; Smith, David L.; Davis Weaver, Nicole; Wiens, Kirsten E.; Eaton, Jeffrey W.; Justman, Jessica E.; Opio, Alex; Sartorius, Benn; Tanser, Frank; Wabiri, Njeri; Piot, Peter; Murray, Christopher J. L.; Hay, Simon I. (15 May 2019). "Mapping HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2017". Nature. 570 (7760): 189–193. Bibcode:2019Natur.570..189D. doi:10.1038/S41586-019-1200-9. PMC6601349. PMID 31092927. Wikidata ()
Piot, Peter; Soka, Moses J; Spencer, Julia (September 2019). "Emergent threats: lessons learnt from Ebola" (PDF). International Health. 11 (5): 334–337. doi:10.1093/INTHEALTH/IHZ062. PMID 31385587. Wikidata ()
Bausch, Daniel G; Piot, Peter (11 October 2019). "Ebola Vaccines: Biomedical Advances, Human Rights Challenges". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 222 (4): 521–524. doi:10.1093/INFDIS/JIZ520. PMID 31603195. Wikidata ()
Referencesedit
^ abcdefHarden, Victoria A.; Piot, Peter (4 January 2008). "In Their Own Words... NIH Researchers Recall the Early Years of AIDS: Interview with Dr. Peter Piot". National Institutes of Health.
^ abcde"Professor Baron Peter Piot; KCMG MD PhD DTM FRCP FFPH FMedSci". London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
^Pattyn, S.; Groen, G.vander; Jacob, W.; Piot, P.; Courteille, G. (March 1977). "Isolation of Marburg-like virus from a case of haemorrhagic fever in Zaire". The Lancet. 309 (8011): 573–574. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(77)92002-5. PMID 65663. Wikidata ()
^Piot, Peter; Bartos, Michael; Ghys, Peter D.; Walker, Neff; Schwartländer, Bernhard (April 2001). "The global impact of HIV/AIDS". Nature. 410 (6831): 968–973. Bibcode:2001Natur.410..968P. doi:10.1038/35073639. PMID 11309626. S2CID 4373421. Wikidata ()
^Members of the International Commission (1978). "Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Zaire, 1976". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 56 (2): 271–93. PMC2395567. PMID 307456. Wikidata ()
^Piot, Peter (2013). No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses. New York; London: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-08411-5. OCLC 916025971.
^Breman, Joel G.; Heymann, David L.; Lloyd, Graham; McCormick, Joseph B.; Miatudila, Malonga; Murphy, Frederick A.; Muyembé-Tamfun, Jean-Jacques; Piot, Peter; Ruppol, Jean-François; Sureau, Pierre; van der Groen, Guido; Johnson, Karl M. (15 October 2016). "Discovery and Description of Ebola Zaire Virus in 1976 and Relevance to the West African Epidemic During 2013–2016". Journal of Infectious Diseases. 214 (suppl 3): S93–S101. doi:10.1093/INFDIS/JIW207. PMC5050466. PMID 27357339. Wikidata ()
^Peralta, Eyder (4 November 2019). "This Congolese Doctor Discovered Ebola But Never Got Credit For It — Until Now". NPR.
^Harden, Victoria A.; Piot, Peter (16 June 2010). "In Their Own Words... NIH Researchers Recall the Early Years of AIDS: Dr Peter Piot Interview 3 – June 16, 2010". National Institutes of Health.
^Dixon, Robyn (6 August 2014). "Three leading Ebola experts call for release of experimental drug". Los Angeles Times. Johannesburg.
^"Members of the WHO Advisory Group on the Ebola Virus Disease Response". World Health Organization. September 2015. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014.
^Moon S; et al. (2015), "Will Ebola change the game? Ten essential reforms before the next pandemic. The report of the Harvard-LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola", Lancet, 386 (10009): 2204–2221, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00946-0, PMC7137174, PMID 26615326
^Peter Piot, James Barr (7 February 2020). "Coronavirus – will it become a pandemic? (LSHTM Viral S1E5)" (Podcast). London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Event occurs at 06:34–07:56. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
^COVID-19: Commission launches European team of scientific experts to strengthen EU coordination and medical response European Commission, press release of 17 March 2020.
^Governance Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI).
^Olive Shisana and Peter Piot appointed to Africa Health Research Institute Board Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), press release of 31 January 2017.
^Strategic Coherence of ODA-funded Research UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR).
^Announcing the Chair of the new HMG SCOR Board UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR), press release of 26 September 2017.
^Advisory Panel Archived 22 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF).
^Novartis Foundation confirms new members of its Board of trustees, including new Chairman Dr. Joerg Reinhardt Novartis Foundation, press release of 27 July 2015.
^"Past Recipients". Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^"Flanders-America Awards voor Peter Piot en duo Bruyneel/Armstrong" [Flanders-America Awards for Peter Piot and Bruyneel/Armstrong duo]. Het Nieuwsblad Mobile (in Dutch). 25 February 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^Osaki, Tomohiro (2 June 2013). "Belgian, Ugandan win Noguchi prize". The Japan Times Online. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^Holmes, David (2013). "2013 Prince Mahidol Award winners announced". The Lancet. 382 (9908): 1869. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62349-1. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 24325009. S2CID 42253188.
^histoire. "Peter Piot, Prix International 2015 / Histoire de l'Inserm". Histoire de l'Inserm (in French). Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^Maurice, John (2015). "Peter Piot wins 2015 Canada Gairdner Global Health Award". The Lancet. 385 (9974): 1170. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60610-9. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 25819690. S2CID 9672382.
^"Previous medal winners". Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 6 August 2014. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
^"Peter Piot". German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Retrieved 26 May 2021.