High-resolution image #1 of a dendritic cell made by Dr. Steinman in 1973.
Photo Credit : Ralph Steinman/The Rockefeller University
Dr. Ralph Steinman.
Photo Credit : The Rockefeller University
Dr. Ralph Steinman, 1992.
Photo Credit : The Rockefeller Archive Center
1943 - 2011
Dr. Ralph Steinman
Dr. Ralph Steinman was a medical scientist, and Nobel Prize winner, who discovered dendritic cells.
Born in Montreal, and raised in Sherbrooke, Steinman received a Bachelor of Science from McGill University and his MD magna cum laude from Harvard University Medical School. After a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow, before being appointed full professor and then being named the Director of the University’s Centre for Immunology and Immune Diseases.
Steinman is best known for his discovery of what he called the dendritic cell (named for its resemblance to the shape of the neural dendrite). His research showed that dendritic cells play a key role in the immune system, a discovery which had wide-reaching implications, especially for chemotherapies. Among other developments, it led to the first therapeutic cancer vaccine, Dendreon’s Provenge, which treats men suffering from advanced prostate cancer.
Steinman’s last experiment was on himself. Diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer, he offered himself as a subject for experimental cancer treatments, including many based on his own scientific discoveries. In the end, he lived four years longer than predicted.
He died just days before receiving his Nobel Prize, and even though the Committee does not normally proffer posthumous awards, they bestowed this honour upon him even after his death.
Steinman won many awards for his work, including the New York City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Science and Technology and the Gairdner Foundation International Award. He was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
