Jeffrey Ravetch to receive William B. Coley Award

The 2007 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology has been awarded to Jeffrey V. Ravetch, head of Rockefeller University’s Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology. The Cancer Research Institute, which administers the prize, chose Ravetch for his work on Fc receptors, which has led to fundamental discoveries critical to the design of therapeutic antibodies.

“The use of therapeutic antibodies has real potential in the treatment of cancers,” says Rockefeller President Paul Nurse. “Jeff’s work on Fc receptors has opened new windows on our understanding of immunotherapy.”

The Coley prize, first awarded in 1975 as the Award for Distinguished Research in Immunology, honors research that expands our understanding of immune response to disease and offers insight for the development of new and more effective immunotherapies. The 16 recipients of the inaugural award were honored as the “founders of cancer immunology.” The award was renamed after William Coley, American pioneer in cancer immunotherapy, in 1993.

Ravetch will receive the award, which includes a $5,000 stipend, at the Cancer Research Institute’s annual awards dinner at The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, Tuesday, June 26.