Baruj Benacerraf
| Baruj Benacerraf | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 29, 1920 Caracas, Venezuela |
| Died | August 2, 2011 (aged 90) Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, USA |
| Citizenship | Venezuela/American |
| Nationality | Venezuela |
| Fields | immunology, medicine |
| Institutions |
New York University Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons National Institutes of Health American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard Medical School Dana–Farber Cancer Institute |
| Alma mater |
Columbia University Medical College of Virginia |
| Known for | |
| Notable awards |
National Medal of Science 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Spouse | Annette (Dreyfus) Benacerraf (1922–2011; m.1943–2011; her death) (one daughter, Beryl Rica Benacerraf, b. 1949) |
Baruj Benacerraf (October 29, 1920 – August 2, 2011) was a Venezuelan-born American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the genes which encode cell surface protein molecules important for the immune system's distinction between self and non-self". His colleagues and shared recipients were Jean Dausset and George Davis Snell.
Benacerraf was born in Caracas, Venezuela on October 29, 1920, to Sephardic Jewish parents from Morocco and Algeria. His brother is the well-known philosopher Paul Benacerraf. His father was a textile merchant. Benacerraf moved to Paris from Venezuela with his family in 1925. After going back to Venezuela, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1940. That same year, Benacerraf attended Lycée Français de New York, where he earned a Baccalauréat. In 1942 he earned his B.S. at Columbia University School of General Studies. He then went on to attain the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Virginia, the only school to which he was accepted due to his Jewish background.
From his autobiography at nobelprize.org,
After his medical internship US Army service (1945–48), and working at the military hospital of Nancy, he became a researcher at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (1948–50). He performed research in Paris (1950–56), relocated to New York University (1956–68), moved to the National Institutes of Health (1968–70), then joined Harvard University medical school (1970–91) where he became the Fabyan Professor of comparative Pathology, concurrently serving the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston (1980). He began studies of allergies in 1948, and discovered the Ir (immune response) genes that govern transplant rejection (1960s). Counting different editions, he is an author of over 300 books and articles
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