Dr. William McBride, gynaecologist and obstetrictrician, is the Australian doctor who discovered the teratogenicity of thalidomide which resulted in the reduction of the number of drugs prescribed during pregnancy. Dr. McBride published a letter in The Lancet, in December 1961, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed Thalidomide . Dr. McBride was awarded a medal and prize money by the French Government in connection with his discovery. Using the prize money he had won he established Foundation 41, a Sydney-based medical research foundation concerned with the causes of birth defects. His most notable achievement with Dr P H Huang, was the discovery that Thalidomide caused malformations by interacting with the DNA of the dividing embryonic cells. This finding stimulated their experimention which showed that Thalidomide may inhibit cell division in rapidly dividing cells of malignant turmors. This work was published in the journal "Pharmacology and Toxiccology" in 1999. This work has been rated in the the top ten of the most important Australian medical discoveries. (Sydney Morning Hearld- 2005)
