Paul Ichiro Terasaki (1929-2016): Inventor of the microcytotoxicity assay and pioneer tissue typer

Journal article

Paul Terasaki, one of the leading pioneers of HLA typing, especially its application to matching the donor and recipient for transplantation, died on January 25, 2016, aged 86. Among his many contributions to the immunology of transplantation were his development, with John McCelland, of the microcytoxicity assay, which revolutionised the serology of HLA typing, his showing clearly the importance of serological crossmatching before transplantation, and his demonstration for the first time of the strong effect of HLA matching on survival of sibling to sibling kidney grafts. He eventually devoted most of his scientific career to investigating the contribution of HLA matching to transplant survival.

In 1990 Paul Terasaki edited a collection of articles for a ‘History of HLA: Ten Recollections’ (1). His aim was to provide personal perspectives on the early development of the field from those who were its pioneers. Since Paul, and more recently Arne Svejgaard, died the only survivors of the 13 authors of these recollections are myself, and Jon van Rood. Included in the collection is a long contribution from Paul himself. It is from this collection that you can get a real flavour of the early days of the HLA field and Paul Terasaki’s own tremendously important contributions.

Authors: Bodmer, W

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: HLA : immune response genetics
• Volume: 87
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 404-408
• Publication date: 2016-04-01
• Acceptance date: 2016-04-11
• DOI: 10.1111/tan.12809
• ISSN: 2059-2310