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Frederick W. Alt is an American geneticist. He is a member of the Immunology section of the National Academy of Sciences and a Charles A. Janeway Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.[1] He is the Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Boston Children's Hospital.[2] He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, since 1987.
Frederick Alt | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Fred Alt |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral students | Karen M. Frank |
Alt completed his undergraduate studies at Brandeis University, graduating in 1971.[3] He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University in 1977 while under the research direction of Robert Schimke. He performed his postdoctoral work in David Baltimore's laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[4] From 1982 to 1991 he was on the faculty at Columbia University and then moved to Harvard Medical School.[5]
Alt's research interest is in maintenance of genome stability in cells of the mammalian immunological system, particularly antigen receptor variable region gene assembly in developing B and T lymphocytes, immunoglobulin heavy chain class switch recombination (CSR), and somatic hypermutation in activated mature B lymphocytes.[1]
Alt is the son-in-law of organic chemist Koji Nakanishi, former Centennial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department at Columbia University.[6]
Alt is also the father of the chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt.[7]
He has received many awards, this is a select list:
- Clowes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research
- Rabbi Shai Shacknai Prize from The Hebrew University
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society de Villiers International Achievement Award
- Irvington Institute Immunology Award
- National Cancer Institute Alfred K. Knudson Award for pioneering contributions that have revolutionized the field of Cancer Genetics
- AAI-Huang Meritorious Career Award, American Association of Immunologists
- Excellence in Mentoring Award, American Association of Immunologists.
- 2004 – Pasarow Foundation Prize for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research
- 2007 – Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology for his discoveries on B cell development and antigen responses[8]
- 2009 – William B. Coley Award for New Discoveries in Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute[9]
- 2014 – 44th annual Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research[3]
- 2015 – Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, from the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR)[10]
- 2019 – BioLegend Herzenberg Award, for "exemplary research contributions to the field of B cell biology", American Association of Immunologists.[11][12]
- 2023 – Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize[13]
The Cancer Research Institute of New York gives an annual prize in his honor, the Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology.
Alt is a member of:
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