Zelig Eshhar
Zelig Eshhar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Zelig Lipka |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Immunologist |
| Known for | Development of CAR T-cell therapy |
| Awards |
|
Zelig Eshhar is an Israeli immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. He was Chairman of the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute twice, in the 1990s and 2000s.
Biography
[edit]Zelig Lipka (later Eshhar) grew up in Rehovot. After his IDF service in Nahal, he joined Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, where he became a beekeeper.[1] He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute.
Medical research
[edit]He is mainly known for his studies on T cells and his pioneering work on chimeric antigen receptors.[2][3] His work has been the basis of the development of a cancer immunotherapy, involving genetic modifications of T lymphocytes extracted from a cancer patient to produce chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-Cells, which are then injected back into the patient in a process called adoptive cell transfer, that produced startlingly good results in clinical trials in the mid-2010s[2] and millions of dollars of investment.[4]
Awards and recognition
[edit]In 2013 Eshhar was awarded the CAR Pioneering award by the ATTACK European Consortium as well as the European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy Outstanding Achievement Award.[5] In 2014 he shared the Massry Prize with Steven Rosenberg and James P. Allison[6] and the Pioneer Award with Carl H. June.[7] He is the recipient of the 2015 Israel Prize in Life Sciences[8] and the 2019 Cancer Research Institute's William B. Coley Award.[9] In 2021 he was awarded the Dan David Prize.[10] In 2024 he received the Canada Gairdner International Award.[11] In December 2024, he also received the VinFuture Prize's Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields alongside Carl H. June and Michel Sadelain for their contributions to the development and advancement of CAR T cell therapy, a revolutionary "living drug" that is transforming the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases worldwide.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ The Story Behind an Israeli Immunologist's Cancer-fighting Breakthrough, Haaretz
- ^ a b Regalado, Antonio (June 18, 2015). "Biotech's Coming Cancer Cure". Technology Review.
- ^ "Zelig Eshhar Ph.D." Businessweek. Retrieved 19 September 2014.[dead link]
- ^ Brower, Vicki (April 1, 2015). "The CAR T-Cell Race". The Scientist.
- ^ "Awards". www.esgct. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "2014 Massry Prize recipients noted for work in immunotherapy". University of Southern California. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
- ^ "Drs. Zelig Eshhar and Carl June Honored with Pioneer Awards". GEN. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ Gravé-Lazi, Lidar (1 February 2015). "Weizmann Institute professors to be awarded Israel Prizes". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
- ^ "William B. Coley Award". Cancer Research Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Dan David Prize 2021
- ^ Canada Gairdner International Award 2024
- ^ "The VinFuture 2024 Grand Prize honours 5 scientists for transformational contributions to the advancement of deep learning". Việt Nam News. December 7, 2024.
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