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Joseph Schlessinger

Joseph Schlessinger is an Israeli-American biochemist and biophysicist known for his research on cell signaling through receptor tyrosine kinases.

born 1945Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling researchAntibodies behind the drug ErbituxFounding Plexxikon

Born: 26 March 1945, Topusko
Occupation: biochemist, chemist, researcher
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Founded: Plexxikon (2001)

Joseph Schlessinger was born in 1945 in Topusko

Schlessinger was born on 26 March 1945 in Topusko, Yugoslavia, to Jewish parents. His parents, Imre and Rivka, met in a labor camp on the island of Rab in 1943 and joined Jewish Partisans. The family moved to Israel in 1948 and settled in Kiryat Amal, later Kiryat Tivon.

He served in the Golani Brigade as an officer. He earned a BSc in 1968 and an MSc in 1970 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received a PhD in biophysics from the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1974.

After postdoctoral work at Cornell University and a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, he joined the Weizmann Institute faculty from 1978 to 1991. In 1990 he became chair of pharmacology at the New York University School of Medicine. Since 2001 he has chaired the pharmacology department at Yale School of Medicine.

His research deals with signaling through tyrosine phosphorylation and its role in growth control and cancer. His group developed antibodies that formed the basis for the cancer drug Erbitux. He founded the company Plexxikon in 2001.

He is married to Irit Lax, a pharmacology professor at Yale. He has 2 sons from his first marriage.

Joseph Schlessinger's life in 9 milestones

1945
Born in Topusko, Yugoslavia.
1948
Moved to Israel with his family.
1974
Received a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
1978
Joined the Weizmann Institute faculty.
1990
Became pharmacology chair at New York University School of Medicine.
2000
Elected to the US National Academy of Sciences.
2001
Became pharmacology chair at Yale and founded Plexxikon.
2006
Received the Dan David Prize.
2014
Received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award.

Joseph Schlessinger served in the military

He served as a combat engineering officer in the Golani Brigade from 1963 to 1965. In the reserves he took part in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War.