Saranac Lake, N.Y. – Ralph M. Steinman, M.D., a member of the Trudeau Institute board of trustees and chairman of its scientific advisory board, will receive the 2010 Thomas E. Starzl Prize for Surgery and Immunology from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine on April 15.

The prize was established in 1996 by the medical school’s department of surgery to honor the clinical and scientific contributions of renowned transplant surgeon Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., who performed the first liver transplant in 1963, followed by the first successful liver transplant in 1967. Dr. Starzl is widely cited as the “father of transplant surgery,” who is also credited with championing anti-rejection drugs.

Dr. Steinman is Henry G. Kunkel Professor at The Rockefeller University and a senior physician at The Rockefeller University Hospital. A cell biologist whose research focuses on the immune system, he heads Rockefeller’s Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology. His seminal discovery demonstrated that dendritic cells, the preeminent component of the immune system that initiates and regulates the body’s response to foreign antigens, trigger other components of the immune system to thwart microbial invaders.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine, 
Dr. Steinman received the Albert Lasker Award for Outstanding Basic Medical Research in 2007.

The Starzl Prize includes an honorarium of $15,000 and travel expenses to Pittsburgh, where Dr. Steinman will formally receive the award, present the annual Starzl Lecture, and participate in related activities, including meeting informally with faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students.

“We are honored to work with Ralph as a colleague and as chairman of our scientific advisory board. This award could not have been bestowed upon a more worthy individual, who has dedicated his life to improving the health and well-being of others,” said David L. Woodland, Ph.D., president and director of the Trudeau Institute.

The Trudeau Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, biomedical research organization, whose scientific mission is to make breakthrough discoveries leading to improved human health. Trudeau researchers are identifying the basic mechanisms used by the immune system to combat viruses like influenza, mycobacteria, such as tuberculosis, parasites and cancer, so that better vaccines and therapies can be developed for fighting deadly disease. The research is supported by government grants and philanthropic contributions.


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