scholarly journals An appreciation of Ralph Marvin Steinman (1943–2011)

2011 ◽  
Vol 208 (12) ◽  
pp. 2337-2342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol L. Moberg

Ralph Steinman, an editor at the Journal of Experimental Medicine since 1978, shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of dendritic cells (DCs) and their role in immunity. Ralph never knew. He died of pancreatic cancer on September 30, 3 days before the Nobel announcement. Unaware of his death at the time of their announcement, the Nobel Committee made the unprecedented decision that his award would stand. Ralph was the consummate physician-scientist to the end. After his diagnosis, he actively participated in his 4.5 years of treatments, creating experimental therapies using his own DCs in conjunction with the therapies devised by his physicians, all the while traveling, lecturing, and most of all pursuing new investigations in his laboratory. For 38 years—from his discovery of DCs to his Nobel Prize—Ralph pioneered the criteria and methods used to identify, isolate, grow, and study DCs. He and his colleagues demonstrated that DCs are initiators of immunity and regulators of tolerance. In his most recent studies, Ralph was harnessing the specialized features of DCs to design improved vaccines. The following synopsis describes some of his seminal discoveries.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A480-A480
Author(s):  
Jonas Van Audenaerde ◽  
Elly Marcq ◽  
Bianca von Scheidt ◽  
Ashleigh Davey ◽  
Amanda Oliver ◽  
...  

BackgroundWith the poorest 5-year survival of all cancers, improving treatment for pancreatic cancer is one of the biggest challenges in cancer research. In this era of combination immunotherapies, we sought to explore the potential of combining both priming and activation of the immune system. To achieve this, we combined a CD40 agonist with interleukin-15 and tested its potential in pancreatic cancer.MethodsTwo different mouse models of pancreatic cancer were used to assess the potential of this combination regimen. Therefore, effects on tumour growth kinetics and survival were charted. Differential effects on immune signatures was investigated using RNA sequencing. Functional immune subset involvement was tested using different immune depletion experiments and multicolour flow cytometry in different relevant immune sites. Immune memory was checked using re-challenge experiments.ResultsWe demonstrated profound reduction in tumour growth and increased survival of mice with the majority of mice being cured when both agents were combined, including an unprecedented dose reduction of CD40 agonist without losing any efficacy (fig 1). RNA sequencing analysis showed involvement of natural killer cell and T cell mediated anti-tumour responses and the importance of antigen-presenting cell pathways. This combination resulted in enhanced infiltration of tumours by both cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells, as well as a striking increase in the ratio of CD8+ T cells over T regulatory cells. We also observed a significant increase in numbers of dendritic cells in tumour draining lymph nodes, particularly CD103+ dendritic cells with cross-presentation potential. A critical role for CD8+ T cells and involvement of natural killer cells in the anti-tumour effect was highlighted. Importantly, strong immune memory was established, with an increase in memory CD8+ T cells only when both interleukin-15 and the CD40 agonist were combined.Abstract 453 Figure 1Tumour kinetics and survival in Panc02 (left) and KPC (right) pancreatic cancer mouse modelsConclusionsWe demonstrated profound synergistic anti-tumour effects upon combination of CD40 agonist and interleukin-15 treatment in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. This preclinical data supports initiation of a first-in-human clinical trial with this combination immunotherapy strategy in pancreatic cancer.


2021 ◽  
pp. 125-145
Author(s):  
Andrew Zangwill

A formal request by the theorists produces a stand-alone Solid-State Theory Group at Bell Labs. A summer visitor program leads several visiting theorists to conclude that localization occurred in Feher’s samples due to an electrostatic mechanism suggested by Nevill Mott. Anderson develops a theory for localization where the disorder in the positions of the dopants plays a crucial role. Mott champions Anderson’s theory and the Nobel Committee cites it when Anderson wins a share of the 1977 Nobel Prize with Mott and John Van Vleck. David Thouless re-ignites Anderson’s interest in localization and he leads the Gang of Four to develop a novel scaling theory of localization.


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-557

The Editor, Advisory Board, and Associate Editors of Macroeconomic Dynamics extend their heartiest congratulations to Finn Kydland and Ed Prescott as the co-recipients of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics.Finn has served on the MD advisory board since the journal's founding, and his advice during the journal's formative years has helped make MD the success it is today.Much of the work which the Nobel Committee cited as the basis for awarding the prize to Finn and Ed was done while Ed was a junior faculty member at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now the Tepper School of Business) at Carnegie Mellon University, and while Finn was earning his doctorate at GSIA. As a result, the Board thought it would be appropriate to include a brief explication of the significance of Finn and Ed's work written by one of Finn's current Ph.D. students at Carnegie Mellon, Espen Henriksen. Espen is currently working to complete his thesis under Finn's supervision.


2016 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Hansson ◽  
Heiner Fangerau ◽  
Annette Tuffs ◽  
Igor J. Polianski

Abstract Taking the examples of the pioneers Carl Ludwig Schleich, Carl Koller, and Heinrich Braun, this article provides a first exploratory account of the history of anesthesiology and the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. Besides the files collected at the Nobel Archive in Sweden, which are presented here for the first time, this article is based on medical literature of the early 20th century. Using Nobel Prize nominations and Nobel committee reports as points of departure, the authors discuss why no anesthesia pioneer has received this coveted trophy. These documents offer a new perspective to explore and to better understand aspects of the history of anesthesiology in the first half of the 20th century.


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