Michael Neuberger Ph.D.
Medical Research Council, Cambridge, England
Dr. Neuberger is currently Joint Head of Division of Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry and member of Executive Committee, of the Medical Research Council, in Cambridge, England. Dr. Neuberger’s major research interests are directed towards understanding the biochemical processes and the physiological pathways by which antibody diversity is created. Dr. Neuberger was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993, and is a Trustee of the Isaac Newton Trust. He has been awarded numerous awards in recognition of his scientific contributions in the antibody field, including the Novartis Medal (Biochemical Society), the William Bate Hardy Prize, the GlaxoSmithKline Medal (Royal Society) and the Dannie-Heineman Prize (Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Disease).
He is also a past or present member of a number of academic and editorial boards and has consulted for various companies interested in antibody engineering including Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), Xenova-Cantab, and Therapeutic Human Polyclonals. He is the lead inventor on various granted patents and applications in the field of antibody engineering.
Dr. Neuberger received his Bachelors degree at Cambridge University and his doctorate work at the University of London in the laboratory of B.S. Hartley.
Matthew Scharff, M.D.,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Scharff first worked as a Research Associate at the NIH before he joined the Departments of Cell Biology and Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he has served as the Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology, Director of the Division of Biological Sciences and Director of the Cancer Center.
Dr. Scharff has devoted most of his research career to studying the production of antibodies by B cells, the role of antibodies in resistance to infection and in causing autoimmunity and the mechanisms responsible for the generation of antibody diversity. He is currently the Harry Eagle Professor of Cancer Research and a Distinguished Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards including the American Association of Immunologists Award for Excellence in Mentoring in 1998 and the Mayor of New York's Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Science and Technology, 2003.
Dr. Scharff received his undergraduate education from Brown University and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medical Sciences degree from that University in 1994. He received his MD from New York University School of Medicine and was a house officer in medicine for the Harvard Service at the Boston City Hospital.