Internationally recognized expert of hepatitis B (HBV)
An exceptional teacher, compassionate physician and accomplished researcher, Dr. Tyrrell has positioned the University of Alberta and Canada as a world leader in terms of hepatitis research and treatment. Aware of the similarities between duck and human hepatitis B viruses, he proposed Pekin Duck liver cells as an inexpensive model system to test HBV inhibitors. Due to his groundbreaking research, Lamivudine or 3TC was discovered to dramatically decrease HBV replication by up to 99.9%. It would become the first antiviral therapy drug for the treatment and control of HBV.