Dr. Ralph M. Steinman

Dr. Ralph M. Steinman is a physician immunologist who has made many profound contributions to science. Most notably, he identified a type of white blood cell named the dendritic cell. His discovery opened up the possibility of using dendritic cells to stimulate immune responses to cancer cells and pathogens, to graft rejection, to autoimmune diseases, and to infections such as AIDS.

Currently, Steinman is the Henry G. Kunkel Professor and senior physician at The Rockefeller University, New York. He is also editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine and serves on numerous editorial and advisory boards.

Steinman has received many recognitions for his research work, including the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the Canada Gairdner International Award, the Friedrich Sasse Award for Outstanding Contributions in Immunology from the Free University of Berlin, the Rudolf Virchow Medal from the German Society of Pathology, the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute, and one of Germany’s most prestigious scientific commendations—The Robert Koch Prize.

Steinman received an honours bachelor of science degree from McGill University and his MD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Medical School.