Tribute to Dr. Ralph Steinman, Nobel Prize Recipient

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research wish to pay tribute to Dr. Ralph Steinman. On October 3, 2011, Dr. Steinman was honoured as a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Sadly, Dr. Steinman passed away on September 30, 2011 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Montreal in 1943, Dr. Steinman attended McGill University, where he studied biology and chemistry. He then studied medicine at Harvard University Medical School. In 1970, he moved to Rockefeller University, in New York, where he worked as a professor and served as director of the Christopher H. Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases.

In 1973, Dr. Steinman discovered a new cell type – the dendritic cell – which has a unique capacity to activate "T-cells," which help produce antibodies that destroy infections. Since that discovery, Dr. Steinman has worked collaboratively with fellow Nobel Prize recipients Dr. Bruce Beutler (USA) and Dr. Jules Hoffmannon (France) to develop new methods for treating and preventing diseases, including the development of improved vaccines.

Dr. Steinman has won numerous awards for his research, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2003 for his work on the dendritic cell. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research was pleased to support his research in this field.

On behalf of Canada's health research community, we offer Dr. Steinman's family our deepest condolences.