Immunologist Herman Eisen dies at 96
Cancer research
In response to the National Cancer Act of 1971, MIT tasked Nobel Prize-winning biology professor Salvador Luria, MD, with establishing and leading a new MIT Center for Cancer Research. Wanting to include cancer immunology as a focus of this new center, Dr Luria approached Dr Eisen about joining as a founding faculty member.
Dr Eisen accepted the role and arrived at MIT in 1973 as a professor in the Department of Biology. He brought his immunology expertise to MIT’s new cancer center to study how cancer cells evade the body’s natural immune response.
Much of his work focused on studying myeloma tumors in mice and screening their associated proteins. He found that if he used myeloma proteins from one mouse to immunize other mice from the same strain, they were resistant when challenged with cancer cells.
Dr Eisen and his lab went on to study how CD8 T cells develop into cytotoxic T cells and long-lived memory T cells. Therapeutic vaccines that exploit CD8 responses have not yet been developed for humans.
Dr Eisen was working to understand and overcome the barriers to creating effective CD8 vaccines, and his research on the subject was of particular importance to the advancement of cancer immunology.
“Herman’s lifelong pursuit of science, even to the very last day of his life, has been an inspiration to many of us,” said Jianzhu Chen, PhD, of the Koch Institute. “He was a great human being with a great attitude and a clear mind. He will be missed greatly.”
Other colleagues remember Dr Eisen not only as a respected immunologist, but as a hardworking collaborator and a man of integrity. He continued to be an active scientist and had been working with Dr Chakraborty on a paper until his passing.
“Herman was a giant in the field of immunology, with many seminal discoveries,” Dr Chakraborty said. “He was also the kindest and most generous and moral person I have known. Until the end, he was working on scientific problems with junior colleagues and students who benefited from his wisdom. I am lucky to have worked with this great scientist and wonderful human being.”
Dr Eisen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1965, the National Academy of Sciences in 1969, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 1974.
He received numerous other awards and honors throughout his career, including the Behring-Heidelberger Award from the American Association of Immunologists, an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, and the Lifetime Service Award from the American Association of Immunologists, of which he served as president from 1968 to 1969.
Dr Eisen passed away on November 2. He is survived by his wife Natalie and their children, Ellen, Jane, Jim, Tom, and Matthew, as well as 12 grandchildren. 
