Mark Morris Davis (born 27 November 1952)
ForMemRS
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...
[ is director and Avery Family ]Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of Immunology
Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...
in the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection at Stanford University.
Education
Davis was educated at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
[ and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he was awarded a PhD in 1981 for research supervised by Leroy E. Hood.]
Research
Davis is well known for identifying the first T-cell receptor
The T-cell receptor (TCR) is a protein complex found on the surface of T cells, or T lymphocytes, that is responsible for recognizing fragments of antigen as peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. The binding b ...
genes, which are responsible for T lymphocytes ability to "see" foreign entities, solving a major mystery in immunology
Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...
at that time. He and his research group have made many subsequent discoveries about this type of molecule, subsequently, specifically concerning its biochemical properties and other characteristics, including the demonstration that T cells are able to detect and respond to even a single molecule of their ligand-fragments of antigens bound to Major Histocompatibility Complex cell surface molecules. He also developed a novel way of labeling specific T lymphocytes according to the molecules that they recognize, and this procedure is now an important method in many clinical and basic studies of T cell activity, from new vaccine
A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. s against cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
to identifying "rogue" T cells in autoimmunity. In recent years his has increasingly focused on understanding the human immune system, from developing broad systems biology approaches to inventing new methods to help unravel the complexities of T cell responses to cancer, autoimmunity
In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". ...
and infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...
s.
Awards and honors
Davis has won numerous awards including:
* Passano Young Scientist Award together with James Edward Rothman in 1985
* Eli Lilly and Company Research Award in 1986
* Howard Taylor Ricketts Award in 1987
* Gairdner Foundation International Award
The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...
in 1989
* Elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993
* King Faisal International Prize
The King Faisal Prize ( ar, جائزة الملك فيصل, formerly King Faisal International Prize), is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". T ...
in 1995
* Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize
The Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize was a $250,000
award given by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for outstanding oncological research.
The prize was awarded annually from 1979 to 2005. Of the winners, 15 out of 37 have gone on to win eith ...
together with Tak W. Mak in 1996
* Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 2000
* William B. Coley Award
The William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology is presented annually by the Cancer Research Institute, to scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and tumor immunology and whose w ...
in 2000
* Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is an annual award bestowed by the since 1952 for investigations in medicine. It carries a prize money of 120,000 Euro. The prize awarding ceremony is traditionally held on March 14, the birthday of N ...
together with Tak Wah Mak
Tak Wah Mak, (; born October 4, 1946, in China) is a Canadian medical researcher, geneticist, oncologist, and biochemist. He first became widely known for his discovery of the T-cell receptor in 1983 and pioneering work in the genetics of immun ...
in 2004
* Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2016[ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: ]
* Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research with Tak Wah Mak in 2021
External links
Mark Davis Lab Homepage at Stanford University
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Mark Morris
1952 births
Living people
American immunologists
Stanford University faculty
Johns Hopkins University alumni
California Institute of Technology alumni
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences