|
Ronald D. Herberman, M.D.
In 1968, Dr. Ronald D. Herberman became a senior investigator in the Immunology Branch of the NCI, where he organized a research program related to tumor and cellular immunology. In 1971, he became head of a newly established cellular and tumor immunology section in the Laboratory of Cell Biology of the NCI. During this period, he had responsibility for a research program of several investigators related to studies-in animal model systems and in patients with cancer-of cell mediated immune responses to tumors. During this period, a new category of lymphocytes was discovered in Dr. Herberman's laboratory and termed natural killer (NK) cells. Since then, much of Dr. Herberman's research has been focused on the characterization of these natural effector cells and on their role in resistance to cancer growth.
In 1975, the NCI organized an intramural and extramural research program focused on immunodiagnosis of cancer. Dr. Herberman was selected as the Chief of the new Laboratory of Immunodiagnosis. He also assumed responsibility for the national contract program on Immunodiagnosis of Cancer.
In 1981, Dr. Herberman assumed responsibility for another new branch of the NCI, the Biological Therapeutics Branch of the Biological Response Modifiers Program. He had responsibility for a large laboratory and clinical program devoted to the development of biological response modifiers for the treatment of cancer. In 1983, he assumed responsibility as Acting Director for the Biological Response Modifiers Program for the next 2 years. In this capacity, he supervised the national extramural programs of the NCI related to biological response modifiers as well as continued his responsibility for the intramural laboratory and clinical research program in this area.
In 1988, he was appointed chairman of the Biological Response Modifiers Committee of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) AIDS Clinical Trials Group and also served as a member of the NIAID AIDS Clinical Drug Development Committee. Dr. Herberman left the NCI in 1985 to establish the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), now an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center specializing in innovative approaches to cancer treatment. Along with directing UPCI, Dr. Herberman holds a joint professorship in medicine and pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and serves as a staff physician at Presbyterian-University and Montefiore University Hospitals of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He also has served as Interim Chairman of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) from 1994 to 1995.
Dr. Herberman has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research. He has been given the Award for Excellence in the Sciences by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Lifetime Science Award, Institute for Advanced Studies in Immunology and Aging. He currently serves as President of the American Association of Cancer Institutes, and is the past President of the Society for Biological Therapy and the Society for Natural Immunity. He also is the first recipient of an endowed chair in oncology by the Hillman Foundation.
Dr. Herberman serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. He has published extensively in the field of immunology, particularly as it relates to cancer research, and is the current Editor-in-Chief for the international journal Natural Immunity.
In addition to his continued direction of the UPCI, since October 1, 1995, Dr. Herberman has served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Health Sciences of the University of Pittsburgh. In this capacity, he has primary responsibility for enhancing and facilitating the basic and clinical research activities of the six schools of the health sciences and of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
March 2002
|
