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A substance known as the “transfer factor,” which could enhance the body’s defenses against a wide variety of infectious agents.

Institution:

New York University School of Medicine

Researchers:

H. Sherwood Lawrence, MD, director of NYU Langone’s Cancer Center from 1974 to 1979, and director of its AIDS Research Center from 1989 to 1994

Impact:

The “transfer factor” ’is a product of T-lymphocytes. When transferred from immune to non-immune animals, it can enhance the body’s immune system. Dr. Lawrence also identified a link between the way cells respond immunologically to microbes like the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and conducted research on the immune responses involved in the rejection of transplanted organs.

Timeline:

Discovery in 1949.

Topics

AgingBasic ScienceCancerCardiovascularClinical ResearchDiagnosticsDrug DevelopmentFeaturedGeneticsImmune SystemInfectious DiseaseMedical DeviceMental HealthNeurodegenerativeNobel PrizePediatricsPublic HealthRespiratorySurgical AdvancementTechnologyTreatment AdvancesVaccines

Schools

Albany Medical CollegeAlbert Einstein College of MedicineCity University of New York School of MedicineColumbia University College Of Physicians and SurgeonsHofstra Northwell School of Medicine at Hofstra UniversityIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiJacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University at BuffaloNew York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic MedicineNew York Medical CollegeNew York University School of MedicineSchool of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester Medical CenterStony Brook University School of MedicineSUNY Downstate Medical CenterSUNY Upstate Medical UniversityTouro College of Osteopathic MedicineWeill Cornell MedicineWeill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian