Baruj Benacerraf, M.D.

Baruj Benacerraf, M.D.

Baruj Benacerraf was a Venezuelan Jewish immunologist and Nobel Prize-winner born in Venezuela to a Sephardic Jewish family. Sephardic refers to Jews with roots in Spain and Portugal, also known as the Iberian Peninsula. He later moved to the United States, where he earned his medical degree and began a career in immunology research. His most well-known contribution was the discovery of genes that regulate immune system responses. This work fundamentally changed how scientists understand autoimmune diseases and organ transplantation.

In 1980, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Jean Dausset and George Snell. Benacerraf also served as president of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and chair of pathology at Harvard Medical School, where he mentored generations of researchers. Over his career, he published hundreds of scientific papers and helped establish immunogenetics as a cornerstone of modern medical science. He is remembered not only for his research, but for his dedication to mentorship, academic leadership, and advancing the understanding of the immune system.