Judah Folkman

Moses Judah Folkman ( born February 24, 1933, Cleveland, † 14 January 2008, Denver) was an American cell biologist and medical doctor who was especially known for his exploration of angiogenesis and the development of blood vessels.

Life

Judah Folkman studied at Ohio State University and then at Harvard Medical School. After completing his studies, he worked at the Massachusetts General Hospital and inquired very successfully liver cancer and the use of pacemakers.

From 1960 to 1962 Folkman served in the U.S. Navy and studied the growth of blood vessels. In 1971, a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which he presented his hypothesis that all cancers are dependent on angiogenesis. This thesis has been rejected and attacked at the beginning of most experts, however, has largely prevailed in the following years and further research. Below Folkman was a leading expert on angiogenesis, which opened a large field of medical applications to combat cancer.

Last Folkman was a professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital in Boston. In 1991 he received a Gairdner Foundation International Award and the 1994 Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award. In 1997, he was the Massry Prize and the Charles S. Mott Prize, awarded in 1998 Keio Medical Science Prize and in 2004 the Prince of Asturias Award, and he received the Pasarow Award.