Ralph M. Steinman
Encyclopedia
Ralph Marvin Steinman was a Canadian immunologist and cell biologist at Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...

, who in 1973 coined the term dendritic cells while working as a postdoc in the lab of Zanvil A. Cohn
Zanvil A. Cohn
Zanvil Alexander Cohn a cell biologist and immunologist was a professor at Rockefeller University. There Cohn had been the Henry G. Kunkel Professor for seven years. Cohn was senior physician at the university as well as vice president for medical affairs...

, also at Rockefeller University.. Steinman was one of the recipients of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Early life and education

Ralph Steinman was born into a Jewish family in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, one of four children of Irving Steinman (d. 1995) and Nettie Steinman (née Takefman, b. 1917). The family soon moved to Sherbrooke, where the father opened and ran a small clothing store "Mozart's". After graduating from Sherbrooke High School, Steinman moved back to Montreal where he stayed with his maternal grandparents Nathan and Eva Takefman. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 and received his M.D. (magna cum laude) in 1968 from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....

. He completed his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...

.

Awards

On October 3, 2011, the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is the Nobel Committee responsible for proposing laureates for the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine is appointed by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, a body of 50 members at Karolinska...

 announced that he had received one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...

, for "his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity". The other half went to Bruce Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann
Jules A. Hoffmann
Jules A. Hoffmann is a Luxembourgish-born French biologist. He is a research director and member of the board of administrators of the National Center of Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France. In 2007, he became President of the French Academy of Sciences...

, for "their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity". However, the committee was not aware that he had died three days earlier, on September 30, from pancreatic cancer. This created a complication, since the statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that the prize is not to be awarded posthumously. After deliberation, the committee decided that as the decision to award the prize "was made in good faith", it would remain unchanged.

Steinman's daughter said that he had joked the previous week with his family about staying alive until the prize announcement. Steinman said: "I know I have got to hold out for that. They don't give it to you if you have passed away. I got to hold out for that."

Steinman had received numerous other awards and recognitions for his life-long work on dendritic cells, such as the Albert Lasker Award For Basic Medical Research
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease...

 (2007), the Gairdner Foundation International Award
Gairdner Foundation International Award
The Gairdner Foundation International Award is given annually at a special dinner to three to six people for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a precursor to winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine; as of 2007, 69 Nobel...

 (2003), and the Cancer Research Institute William B. Coley Award
William B. Coley Award
The William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, Inc., to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose work has deepened our understanding of the...

 (1998). In addition, he was made a member of Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...

 (U.S.A.; elected 2002) and the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

 (U.S.A.; elected 2001).

List of awards

  • 1998 – William B. Coley Award
    William B. Coley Award
    The William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, Inc., to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose work has deepened our understanding of the...

  • 1999 – Robert Koch Prize
    Robert Koch Prize
    The Robert Koch Medal and Award are two prizes awarded annually for excellence in the biomedical sciences. These awards grew out of early attempts by Robert Koch to generate funding to support his research into the cause and cure for tuberculosis...

  • 2003 – Gairdner Foundation International Award
    Gairdner Foundation International Award
    The Gairdner Foundation International Award is given annually at a special dinner to three to six people for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a precursor to winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine; as of 2007, 69 Nobel...

  • 2007 – Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
    Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
    The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease...

  • 2009 – Albany Medical Center Prize
    Albany Medical Center Prize
    The is the United States' highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research. Among prizes for medicine, the Albany Medical Center Prize is second only to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize in Medicine and the $1 million Shaw Price in life science and medicine....

     (Shared with Charles A. Dinarello
    Charles A. Dinarello
    Charles A. Dinarello is a professor of medicine currently at the University of Colorado at Denver. He is an expert on inflammatory cytokines, specifically Interleukin 1....

     and Bruce Beutler; http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090424/ap_on_he_me/us_med_medical_prize;_ylt=AnjJw3Si2iPB1unZ4X7Xxa3VJRIF)
  • 2011 – Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...

     (shared with Bruce Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann
    Jules A. Hoffmann
    Jules A. Hoffmann is a Luxembourgish-born French biologist. He is a research director and member of the board of administrators of the National Center of Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France. In 2007, he became President of the French Academy of Sciences...

    )

External links

  • http://www.rockefeller.edu/
  • http://www.gairdner.org/
  • http://www.nationalacademies.org/
  • http://www.laskerfoundation.org/
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