Hans Joachim Müller-Eberhard (born Hans Joachim Müller, 5 May 1927,

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

was a distinguished molecular immunologist who did pioneering research in the United States and his native Germany. The areas of investigation upon which he left his mark include the

immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses, includin ...

s and the

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

system. Awarded the gold Robert Koch Prize in 1987. Honorary Member of the Scandinavian Society for Immunology (1973). He died on 3 March 1998 in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas.

Education and career

Müller-Eberhard studied medicine at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. He spent three years with Henry G. Kunkel at the

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a Private university, private Medical research, biomedical Research university, research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and pro ...

, where he became interested in immunological research, and investigated γ-globulin. Later he worked at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

with Gunnar Wallanius on the complement system, and obtained his doctorate there. He returned to Rockefeller University to resume work with Kunkel. After six years in the Kunkel laboratory, he was recruited by Frank Dixon to join the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

, where he was appointed to the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair in Medical Research in 1972. After problems at Scripps he returned to Germany, at the

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin) (BNITM) in Hamburg is Germany's largest institution for tropical medicine, with a workforce of about 250 people in Hamburg. It is member of the Leibniz- ...

References

External links

* 1927 births 1998 deaths German immunologists German molecular biologists American molecular biologists 20th-century American biochemists American geneticists American immunologists University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston faculty {{US-biologist-stub