In memoriam: Michael Sela
Michael Sela, an immunologist and synthetic chemist who helped develop drugs to treat multiple sclerosis and cancer died May 27, 2022, in Rehovot, Israel. He was 98.
A member of the 麻豆传媒色情片 and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology since 1968, Sela was the sixth president of the Weizmann Institute of Science and founding director of its immunology department.
Sela was born Miechzslaw Salomoniwicz in Poland on Feb. 28, 1924. Rising antisemitism drove his family first to Romania, and then to Palestine, where Sela arrived at age 17. He earned a master’s degree in chemistry at the Hebrew University in 1946, then moved to Italy to help resettle Jewish refugees and served as a diplomat in Prague. In 1950, he went to the Weizmann Institute as a doctoral student of Efraim Katzir, later a president of Israel. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry through Hebrew University.
Sela’s work on synthetic antigens helped illuminate how genes control the immune response. He was one of the first chemists to create multichain polymers of amino acids and polypeptide proteins. This basic science indirectly led to his co-inventing the drug Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) for multiple sclerosis and three cancer drugs cetuxibab, necitumumab and panitumumab.
In addition to serving as president of the Weizmann Institute from 1975 to 1985, Sela led the International Union of Immunological Societies, chaired the Council of the European 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology Organization and joined the Global Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization. He was a member of the Israel, U.S. National, Russian, French and Pontifical academies of sciences.
Among many honors, Sela received the 1980 Gairdner Foundation International Award, UNESCO's Albert Einstein Golden Medal in 1995 and the 1998 Wolf Prize in Medicine, shared with his first grad student, .
Sela enjoyed and supported the performing arts, from the Batsheva Dance Company to classical music, jazz, theater and opera. He was a gifted linguist, who mastered Polish, Romanian, Hebrew, German, Russian, French, English, Italian and Czech.
Sela’s first wife, Margalit Liebman, died in 1975. He is survived by his wife, Sara Kika; daughters, Irit, Orlee and Tamar, and their spouses; grandchildren; and great-grandchildren.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition monthly and the digital edition weekly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we鈥檒l send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in People
People highlights or most popular articles
Honors for Bhatt, Lim and Nuñez
Ami Bhatt receives the American Society of Hematology's William Dameshek Prize. The Pew Charitable Trusts selects Ci Ji Lim and James Nuñez as 2024 Pew scholars.
In memoriam: Robert Warren Newburgh
He was a distinguished developmental and cell biologist and a member of the ASBMB since 1957.
'Don鈥檛 be afraid to take a different path'
In 2016, MOSAIC scholar Rebecca Ann Faulkner paused her career for four years to focus on her family, a decision she believes made her a more effective and empathetic scientist.
Honors for Baserga, Matunis and Tate
Awards, promotions, milestones and more. Find out what's going on in the lives of ASBMB members.
In memoriam: William Catterall
Known as the 鈥渇ather of ion channels,鈥 he was a neuroscientist and pharmacologist at the University of Washington and an ASBMB member for more than 45 years.
Announcing the winners of the 麻豆传媒色情片 Motifs bioart competition
The 12 winning works of art to be featured in the 2025 ASBMB calendar were selected from 37 entries received from scientists in both academia and industry at all career stages with submissions coming from as far away as Pakistan and Brazil.