page_title: Harvey J. Alter
hierarchical_section_title: Harvey J. Alter
caption_attribution_description: From NIH Clinical Center News Letter October 2000
context_page_description: Harvey James Alter is an American medical researcher, virologist, and physician who is best known for his work that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Alter is the chief of the infectious disease section and the associate director for research of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in the National Institutes of Health. In the mid-1970s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A and hepatitis B viruses. Working independently, Alter and Edward Tabor, a scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, proved through transmission studies in chimpanzees that a new form of hepatitis, initially called “non-A, non-B hepatitis” caused the infections, and that the causative agent was probably a virus. This work eventually led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus in 1988.
  Alter has received recognition for the research leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C.
context_section_description: Harvey James Alter (born September 12, 1935) is an American medical researcher, virologist, and physician who is best known for his work that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.  Alter is the chief of the infectious disease section and the associate director for research of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the mid-1970s, Alter and his research team demonstrated that most post-transfusion hepatitis cases were not due to hepatitis A and hepatitis B viruses. Working independently, Alter and Edward Tabor, a scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, proved through transmission studies in chimpanzees that a new form of hepatitis, initially called “non-A, non-B hepatitis” caused the infections, and that the causative agent was probably a virus. This work eventually led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus in 1988. 
  Alter has received recognition for the research leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award conferred to civilians in United States government public health service, and the 2000 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.
caption: Harvey J. Alter, chief of the infectious disease section in the department of transfusion medicine at the National Institutes of Health
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