Michel Claudio Nussenzweig

Dr. Michel Claudio Nessensweig is a Senior Physician and the Zanvil A. Cohn and Ralph M. Steinman Professor of Molecular Immunology at The Rockefeller University, where he is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Nussenzweig's research is focused on understanding the development and function of antibody-producing B lymphocytes and dendritic cells. Unlike many organ systems present throughout evolution, the immune system occurs only in vertebrates. Although this places a limit on classical genetic analysis, Nussenzweig’s laboratory circumvents the problem by combining biochemistry and molecular biology with gene targeting and transgenic technologies to better understand the molecular aspects of adaptive and innate immune responses. He focuses on B lymphocytes and antibodies for adaptive immunity and on dendritic cells in his studies of innate immunity. In his studies of adaptive immunity, Nussenzweig has shown that membrane antibodies regulate B lymphocyte development and that the majority of newly arising B-lymphocyte cells are self-reactive, which must be silenced to prevent autoimmune diseases. Nussemzweig's studies of innate immunity have revealed that antigens taken up by dendritic cells, such as those found during inflammation of tissue destruction, induce prolonged T cell activation. This steady-state tolerizing function of dendritic cells may be essential to their role in eliciting immunity. His research has greatly contributed to scientific understanding of the molecular dynamics underlying adaptive and innate immunity, and has led him to be recognized with the 2008 Lee C. Howley Sr. Prize for Arthritis Research, the 2004 American Association of Immunologists-Huang Foundation Meritorious Career Award, and the 2003 Solomon A. Berson Alumni Achievement Award for Basic Science. In addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences Membership, Nussenzweig is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. His numerous publications appear in top-tier journals such as Blood, Cell, Nature, and Science.