Irving L. Weissman
Irving Lerner Weissman (born October 21, 1939 in Great Falls , Montana ) is an American physician, immunologist , cancer researcher and stem cell pioneer.
Life
Weissman grew up in Montana . He first made his Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State College in 1961, and received his doctorate in medicine from Stanford University in 1965 , where he has been researching and teaching ever since. Officially, he is a professor in the pathology department of the medical faculty, but is also professor of immunology, developmental biology, cancer research and (honorary) neurosurgery. He currently heads the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and also supports the Cancer Research Center he founded to conduct research on cancer stem cells.
Weissman has been a globally recognized immunologist for decades and co-developed classic molecular and cell biological methods many decades ago. His laboratory also developed newer methods to successfully isolate hematopoietic stem cells from mice and later also from humans in 1988. In addition, he also runs a small marine laboratory in which the developmental biology and genetics of a simple, colony-forming marine animal ( Botryllus schlosseri ) as a prime example of naturally occurring transplant formation and rejection or immunological tolerance as a model of human transplant rejection is researched. Earlier and current research also deal with cell adhesion mainly of leukocytes and the metastatic behavior of tumor cells.
Outside of immunology, Weissman has also become known to a broad public in recent years for his political and ethical commitment to the freedom of stem cell research and the transfer of research results on adult, hematopoietic stem cells to many other tissues, especially stem cells that form nerve tissue. From an ethical point of view, he believes it is necessary to research adult stem cells more quickly and make them usable for patients who are often seriously ill and for whom there is currently no therapy. As a result, Weissman has become known in the media beyond California and his lecture and discussion as an expert on adult stem cells in the US Senate. In addition, he also criticizes the media and other scientists publicly if they report too carelessly about dubious or incorrect stem cell results.
His laboratories continue to research the developmental stages and gene regulation of blood cell-forming stem cells and many other adult stem cells from humans and mice. Weissman also strongly propagates the theory of cancer stem cells in order to focus future cancer therapies more on combating cancer stem cells and thereby improve current cancer therapies.
Weissman has successfully founded several biotech companies, in particular SyStemix, StemCells and the successor companies of SyStemix. He worked as a consultant for some of the first genetic engineering companies. California is now one of the world's leading regions for (adult) stem cell research, especially because of Weissman. Currently, US $ 3 billion is being invested in stem cell research by private investors in California alone, more than anywhere else in the world. Many of his numerous national and international students became professors at American and European universities, founded their own high-tech companies or held top positions in renowned biotech companies. One of his early American students, Eugene C. Butcher , has already been awarded the Swedish Crafoord Prize , which is awarded to areas for which there is no Nobel Prize.
Awards
Many prestigious awards include his “California scientist of the year 2002” award, which many California Nobel Prize winners have received. For 1988 he was awarded the Pasarow Award . Weissman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1989, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990, and the American Philosophical Society in 2008. In 1990 he became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . In 1994/1995 he was President of the American Association of Immunologists . In 2008 Weissman was awarded the Robert Koch Prize together with Hans R. Schöler and Shin'ya Yamanaka . In 2007 Weissman was awarded the Ilse & Helmut Wachter Prize at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. In 2004 he received the Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal , in 2009 the Passano Award , in 2013 the Max Delbrück Medal and in 2015 the Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research . For 2017 he was awarded the Karl Landsteiner Memorial Award , for 2019 the Albany Medical Center Prize .
Publications
Of his more than 600 publications, well over 100 have also appeared in the most renowned scientific journals Cell , Science , Nature and PNAS .
Web links
- Short biography with awards on the official www.stanford.edu website
- public statement to the US Senate on med. Stem Cell Research Ethics
- Article in "The Economist" on Weissman's résumé, research, stem cell businesses and ethics
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Irving Weissman. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 9, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weissman, Irving L. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Weissman, Irving Lerner |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American medic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 21, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Great Falls , Montana |