# Daniel Carleton Gajdusek

> He won the Nobel Prize in 1976 for discovering that kuru—a fatal brain disease in Papua New Guinea—could spread like an infection, opening the door to understanding prions. A decade later, he was convicted of child molestation and spent the rest of his life in exile.

*American medical researcher*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/daniel-carleton-gajdusek

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Doctor ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Doctors
- **Country:** United States
- **Born:** 1923-09-09
- **Died:** 2008-12-12
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** male

## Bio

Daniel Carleton Gajdusek was born September 9, 1923, and built a career as an American physician and medical researcher working on obscure neurological diseases. His fieldwork on kuru, a deadly condition affecting the Fore people, led him to propose that it transmitted through an "unconventional virus"—work that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976, shared with Baruch S. Blumberg. Twenty years later, in 1996, he was charged with child molestation; he was convicted, served twelve months in prison, then left for Europe and never returned. He openly admitted to the abuse and expressed approval of incest, yet some scientific peers argued for clemency on the grounds of his research contributions. He died in self-imposed exile on December 12, 2008.

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 53.7 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: STABLE)
- **Historical depth:** 22.7 / 100
- **Now attention:** 0.0 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 65.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 75.0 / 100

## Platforms
- **IMDB**: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4252954/ (@nm4252954)

## Topics
#Doctors, #Doctor, #Medicine, #Biology, #United States, #Americas, #20th Century

## Sources
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q108576)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Daniel%20Carleton%20Gajdusek)
- [دانیل کارلتون گایداشک](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%84_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%DA%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%DA%A9)
- [Даніэл Карлтан Гайдузек](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%96%D1%8D%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BB%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BA)
- [Даниъл Карлтън Гайдъшек](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8A%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BB%D1%82%D1%8A%D0%BD_%D0%93%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BA)
- [ড্যানিয়েল কার্লটন গ্যাজডুসেক](https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%A1%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%A1%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%95)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [دانیاڵ کارڵتۆن گایۆسک](https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7%DA%B5_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%B5%D8%AA%DB%86%D9%86_%DA%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%86%D8%B3%DA%A9)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [D. Carleton Gajdusek](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [دانیل کارلتون گایداشک](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%84_%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%DA%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B4%DA%A9)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [דניאל קרלטון גאידושק](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%93%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%9C%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9F_%D7%92%D7%90%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A7)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Դանիել Կարլտոն Գայդուսեկ](https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B4%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%AB%D5%A5%D5%AC_%D4%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%AC%D5%BF%D5%B8%D5%B6_%D4%B3%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%A4%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BD%D5%A5%D5%AF)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Carleton_Gajdusek)
- [كارلتون غايدوشك](https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B4%D9%83)
- [كارلتون جايدوشك](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B4%D9%83)
- [Daniel Carleton Gajdusek](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3860040)

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