Michael Heidelberger
Michael Heidelberger | |
|---|---|
Photograph of Heidelberger by Harold Low | |
| Born | April 29, 1888 New York City, US |
| Died | June 25, 1991 (aged 103) New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Known for | Properties of antibody |
| Spouses | Nina Tachau
(m. 1916; died 1946)Charlotte Rosen
(m. 1956; died 1988) |
| Awards | Lasker Award (1953) Centenary Prize (1959) National Medal of Science (1967) Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (1977) Lasker Award (1978) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Organic chemistry Immunology |
| Institutions | Rockefeller Institute Mount Sinai Hospital, New York Columbia University Rutgers University New York University School of Medicine |
| Doctoral advisor | Marston T. Bogert |
Michael Heidelberger ForMemRS (April 29, 1888 – June 25, 1991) was an American immunologist, often regarded as the father of modern immunology. He and Oswald Avery showed that the polysaccharides of pneumococcus are antigens, enabling him to show that antibodies are proteins. He spent most his early career at Columbia University and comparable time in his later years on the faculty of New York University. In 1934 and 1936 he received the Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1967 he received the National Medal of Science, and then he earned the Lasker Award for basic medical research in 1953 and again in 1978. His papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.