CARL F. NATHAN NAMED CHAIRMAN OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY AT WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY

New York, NY (May 1999)—Carl F. Nathan, M.D., a noted educator, administrator, and authority in the field of immunology, has been appointed Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. 

Dr. Nathan, the R. A. Rees Pritchett Professor of Microbiology,  previously served as Acting Dean of Weill Medical College prior to Dean Antonio Gotto’s appointment in 1997, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, and Co-Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics Program at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences.  He was also the Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Weill Medical College.

Dr. Nathan’s investigative research has focused on the molecular mechanisms of innate immunity.  These studies utilize genetic, biochemical, and cell biological approaches to understand how macrophages and neutrophils kill microbial pathogens, tumor cells, and host cells.  The immunological role of nitric oxide has become a significant focus of his investigations.

Dr. Nathan is the author or co-author of more than 150 scientific articles and more than 60 monographs, book chapters, and reviews.  He has served as an editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine since 1988, and also has editorial responsibilities for the Journal of Clinical Investigation and the journal Molecular Medicine.  He was recently honored with election to the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine.

Dr. Nathan received his bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude  from Harvard College in 1967 and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1972 with a concentration in immunology.  He completed his post-graduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1974 and joined the faculty of The Rockefeller University in 1977.