William C. Campbell was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and raised in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland. He was educated at Campbell College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, and earned a PhD degree at the University of Wisconsin. After a 33-year career with Merck and Co., Inc. in New Jersey he retired to an active research fellowship at Drew University, also in New Jersey.
Campbell was a member of a Merck and Co. research team that discovered six drugs that have been widely used for parasite control in animal-health (thiabendazole, cambendazole, rafoxanide, clorsulon, ivermectin, eprinomectin). He is recognized particularly for his role in the development of ivermectin for the prevention of River Blindness in people—later extended (in combination with other drugs) to filariasis (elephantiasis). In connection with that work he shared with Satoshi Omura the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2015. Campbell was elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in 2000. He and his wife Mary live in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Professional position
- Emeritus Fellow, Drew University
Awards
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Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Jointly with Satoshi Omura; divided with Tu Youyou
