Yvonne Barr

Education and career Barr was Head Prefect at Banbridge Academy Secondary School and graduated in 1953 Following her graduation Barr held several posts at veterinary and medical research laboratories in the UK and Canada.

Barr began working as a research assistant in 1955, gaining laboratory skills. While at the London National Institute for Medical Research she mastered cell propagation, specifically the technique called cell culturing. Using this technique, she studied the bacterium determined to cause leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease. They were based at the Bland-Sutton Institute of Pathology at Middlesex Hospital, London, and Epstein became her PhD research supervisor. (The virus was named for the cell culture in which it was identified.) Prior to determining specifics about EBV, Epstein, Barr, and Achong published their preliminary research in The Lancet. University of Pennsylvania researchers later confirmed the new virus as responsible for the type of tumor the team had been studying.

Personal life Barr was born in Carlow, Ireland, the oldest of Robert and Gertrude Barr's four children. Her father was a banking manager.

Barr married Australian Stuart Balding, an industrial chemist, They moved to Australia in 1966 and had two children, Kirsten and Sean Balding. Barr died in Melbourne, Australia, at the age of 83.