Judah Folkman
| Moses Judah Folkman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 24, 1933 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Died | January 14, 2008 (aged 74) Denver, Colorado |
| Citizenship | American |
| Institutions | Harvard Medical School |
| Alma mater | The Ohio State University, Harvard Medical School |
| Known for | angiogenesis |
| Notable awards |
Charles S. Mott Prize (1997) Massry Prize (1997) Keio Medical Science Prize (1998) |
Moses Judah Folkman (February 24, 1933 – January 14, 2008) was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence. He founded the field of angiogenesis research, which has led to the discovery of a number of therapies based on inhibiting or stimulating neovascularization.
Born in 1933 in Cleveland, Ohio, Judah Folkman accompanied his father, a rabbi, on visits to hospital patients. By age seven, he knew he wanted to be a doctor rather than follow in his father's footsteps, so he could offer cures in addition to comfort. His father replied, "In that case, you can be a rabbi-like doctor," words his son took to heart.
Folkman graduated from The Ohio State University in 1953, and then Harvard Medical School in 1957. While a student at Harvard Medical School, he trained under Robert Edward Gross and also worked on a prototype pacemaker, work that he never published. After his graduation, he started his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1960 his residency was interrupted when he was drafted in the United States Navy and did research for the Navy until 1962 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. During that time, he studied the use of silastic for the sustained release of lipophilic drugs; the 1964 publication of that work helped inspire the technological development of the Norplant implantable contraceptive at the Population Council. The navy research was focused on developing artificial blood; in the course of testing potential products to see if they could keep alive thymus glands taken from rabbits, he noticed that tumors in the gland couldn't grow, as they did if the glands were perfused with blood. His curiosity as to why led to his work on angiogenesis.
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