Ralph Weissleder (born November 8, 1958, in

Zell am Harmersbach Zell am Harmersbach is a small town and a historic “ Reichsstadt” in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies in the Ortenaukreis, between the Black Forest and the Rhine. History Zell was settled on territory owned by Gengenbach Abbey. The monas ...

, Germany) is an American clinician scientist.

Biography

Ralph Weissleder is a professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, director of the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and an attending interventional radiologist at MGH. Weissleder graduated from

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 1985. Following his degrees, Weissleder completed an Internship and residency at University Hospital, Monterrey, Mexico. Weissleder pursued his post-doctoral research (1986–1989) and clinical training in radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and at

(HMS). In 1994, Weissleder became assistant professor at HMS, full professor in 2001 (Department of Radiology), and an active physician ( interventional radiology) at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2007, Weissleder was appointed director of the MGH Center for Systems Biology and in 2008, he was also appointed professor in systems biology at HMS. Weissleder is a member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Weissleder has received honorary degrees from The Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León, Mexico (2007) and from Harvard University (2001).

Research

Dr. Weissleder is a widely recognized and cited researcher in biotechnology, especially in the fields of imaging and next-gen diagnostics. His research interests include the development of novel molecular imaging techniques, tools for early disease detection as well as the development of nanomaterials for sensing and systems analysis. His research is translational in nature and several of his developments have led to commercialized technologies and advanced clinical trials. He is cofounder of T2 Biosystems], Lumicell, Accure Health, VisEn Medical (acquired by Perkin Elmer), and an advisor to several other biotech companies (Moderna, Seer Bioscience, Boston Scientific).

Clinical Practice

Dr. Weissleder's practices at Massachusetts General Hospital, which is widely recognized for its patient care and ranks among the most accomplished and innovative medical institutions in the world. He is a faculty member of the Department of Radiology and practices in interventional radiology with a particular focus on interventional oncology. His area of expertise is in percutaneous biliary procedures, of which he has performed over 3,000. He treats biliary cancers, stone disease, strictures, post surgical complications, transplants and congenital abnormalities. He uses state-of-the art interventional equipment and emerging technologies for optimal patient care. He has an extensive referral base from across the country. He has trained over 200 clinical fellows and over 500 research fellows. He is a member of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization.

Publications

Dr. Weissleder has published nearly 1,000 publications in peer reviewed journals, has authored and co-authored several textbooks and holds 78 patents. His work has been cited over 185,000 times. He has an

h-index The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as ...

of 213 and a weighted RCR

citation index A citation index is a kind of bibliographic index, an index of citations between publications, allowing the user to easily establish which later documents cite which earlier documents. A form of citation index is first found in 12th-century Hebre ...

of 2550.

Awards and honors

He is an elected member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

, 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 ...

and the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) His work has also been honored with numerous awards including the Millennium Pharmaceuticals Innovator Award (2003), the J. Taylor International Prize in Medicine (2004), the AUR Memorial Award, the ARRS President's Award, The Society for Molecular Imaging Lifetime Achievement Award, the Academy of Molecular Imaging 2006 Distinguished Basic Scientist Award, the 2008 RSNA Outstanding Researcher Award and the 2011 European Society of Radiology Gold Medal. Dr. Weissleder is ranked 23 in the world and 20 in United States by Research.com 2023 Ranking of Best Scientists in Biology and Biochemistry.Research.com
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weissleder, Ralph 1958 births Heidelberg University alumni West German emigrants Immigrants to the United States Harvard Medical School faculty Living people Members of the National Academy of Medicine