Frederick Alt Explained

Workplaces:	Harvard Medical School Columbia University Boston Children's Hospital
Alma Mater:	Brandeis University Stanford University
Spouses:	)-->
Other Names:	Fred Alt
Doctoral Students:	Karen M. Frank

Frederick W. Alt is an American geneticist. He is a member of the Immunology section of the National Academy of Sciences and a Charles A. Janeway Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.^[1] He is the Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Boston Children's Hospital.^[2] He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, since 1987.

Career

Alt completed his undergraduate studies at Brandeis University, graduating in 1971.^[3] He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University in 1977 while under the research direction of Robert Schimke. He performed his postdoctoral work in David Baltimore's laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).^[4] From 1982 to 1991 he was on the faculty at Columbia University and then moved to Harvard Medical School.^[5]

Alt's research interest is in maintenance of genome stability in cells of the mammalian immunological system, particularly antigen receptor variable region gene assembly in developing B and T lymphocytes, immunoglobulin heavy chain class switch recombination (CSR), and somatic hypermutation in activated mature B lymphocytes.

Personal life

Alt is the son-in-law of organic chemist Koji Nakanishi, former Centennial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department at Columbia University.^[6]

Alt is also the father of the chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt.^[7]

Awards, memberships and honors

He has received many awards, this is a select list:

• Clowes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research
• Rabbi Shai Shacknai Prize from The Hebrew University
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society de Villiers International Achievement Award
• Irvington Institute Immunology Award
• National Cancer Institute Alfred K. Knudson Award for pioneering contributions that have revolutionized the field of Cancer Genetics
• AAI-Huang Meritorious Career Award, American Association of Immunologists
• Excellence in Mentoring Award, American Association of Immunologists.
• 2004 – Pasarow Foundation Prize for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research
• 2007 – Novartis Prize for Basic Immunology for his discoveries on B cell development and antigen responses^[8]
• 2009 – William B. Coley Award for New Discoveries in Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute^[9]
• 2014 – 44th annual Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research
• 2015 – Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, from the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR)^[10]
• 2019 – BioLegend Herzenberg Award, for "exemplary research contributions to the field of B cell biology", American Association of Immunologists.^{[11] [12]}
• 2023 – Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize^[13]

The Cancer Research Institute of New York gives an annual prize in his honor, the Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology.

Alt is a member of:

• U.S. National Academy of Sciences
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• American Academy of Microbiology

External links

• Official page at Harvard

Notes and References

1. http://www.dfhcc.harvard.edu/membership/profile/member/1378/0/ Dana-Farber profile
2. Web site: How new loops in DNA packaging help us make diverse antibodies. phys.org. en-us. 2019-11-14.
3. Web site: Pioneering geneticist Frederick Alt '71 wins 44th Rosenstiel Award. BrandeisNOW. en. 2019-11-14.
4. Web site: Alt Laboratory . 2022-12-29 . www.childrenshospital.org.
5. Web site: Children's Hospital bio . 2011-09-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180120101957/http://www.idi.harvard.edu/investigators_research/investigator/alt_lab . 2018-01-20 . dead .
6. Web site: J. Kenji López-Alt: Seattle's Famous Japanese American Cooking Star . 2022-09-23 . The North American Post . 2022-12-09 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221006205242/https://napost.com/2022/j-kenji_feature_0923/ . 2022-10-06.
7. Web site: Science becomes delicious in 'The Food Lab'. Robertson. Blair Anthony. 2015. The Sacramento Bee. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151216095413/http://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/article49010860.html. 2015-12-16. 2019-11-13. His father, Frederick Alt, is a professor at Harvard Medical School.
8. Web site: Laureates. 2018-08-29. Novartis Prizes for Immunology. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180829175211/http://www.novartisimmunologyprizes.com/laureates/. 2018-08-29. 2019-11-14.
9. Web site: CRI Announces Winner of 2009 Frederick Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology. Cancer Research Institute. October 6, 2009 . en. 2019-11-14.
10. Scully. Peter. Zhao. Jie. Ba. Sujuan. 2016-02-03. Frederick W. Alt received the 2015 Szent-Györgi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research. Chinese Journal of Cancer. 35. 17. 10.1186/s40880-015-0075-x. 1000-467X. 4741029. 26843073 . free .
11. Web site: AAI-BioLegend Herzenberg Award. The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. (AAI).
12. Web site: AAI Career Awards. Immunology 2019. en-US. 2019-11-14.
13. https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/124912621/2023_Alt_Schatz Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2023