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ichael B. A. Oldstone, M.D., has been named a recipient of the 1997 J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine. Head of TSRI'S Division of Virology and a member of the Department of Neuropharmacology, he has been on staff here since 1966.

The Taylor Prize was awarded to three scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the understanding of virus-host interactions. Others include Dr. Bernard Roizman, University of Chicago; and Dr. Bernard Moss, National Institutes of Health. It is awarded by the John P. Robarts Research Institute, the largest privately-directed medical research facility in Canada.

Oldstone has been recognized for his work in defining how viruses persist by escaping the immune system and characterizing the diseases persistent viral infections cause. He also is being noted for his observations that viruses can cause autoimmune disease. A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he began his career at TSRI as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Experimental Pathology in 1966. He became an associate member of the Department of Immunopathology in 1972, and a member of the Department of Immunology in 1978. In 1989, he was named head of the Division of Virology, Department of Neuropharmacology, as well as a member of the department.

Oldstone is the recipient of numerous honors and awards and has served on a variety of prestigious advisory boards. Recently, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.