Gene Martin Shearer (born April 14, 1937) is an American immunologist who works at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
He first achieved fame for his discovery in 1974 that T lymphocytes recognized chemically modified surface antigens only in the context of self major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encoded molecules,[1][2] identifying the central feature of antigen recognition by T lymphocytes known as MHC restriction.
[3] His discovery of MHC restriction using chemically modified surface antigens was simultaneous with the discovery of MHC restricted T lymphocyte recognition of virus infected cells by Rolf Zinkernagel and Peter Doherty, who received the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
[5][6] Consequently, in 1983 Shearer was one of the first immunologists to begin studying the immune dysregulation in AIDS patients and discovered that infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) resulted in CD4+ T cell dysfunction and immune dysregulation long before the onset of overt clinical disease.
Shearer's interests include cycling and playing autoharp and harmonica with his musical group, the Half-Right Band.