Paul Terasaki
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Paul Terasaki is a noted scientist in the field of human organ transplant technology. Terasaki, who was born in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, spent three high school years during World War II interned with his family in the Gila River, Ariz., relocation camp. He went on to receive his doctorate in zoology at UCLA and became a professor of surgery at UCLA's School of Medicine.
In 1964, Terasaki developed the microcytotoxicity test, a tissue-typing test for organ transplant donors and recipients that required only 1 mL each of antisera used to identify human leukocyte antigens (HLA).[1] The test was adopted as the international standard for tissue typing. He has focused on study of the humoral theory of transplant rejection, which states that antibodies cause allograft rejection.[2] He and his corporation, One Lambda, have played a central role in the development of tissue typing and transplantation surgery.
Terasaki also established the UCLA Kidney Transplant Registry, the largest in the world. In 1999, he retired from UCLA, but within a year resumed his academic pursuits with the creation of the Terasaki Foundation, a research center dedicated to cancer immunotherapy and the study of humoral immunity and transplantation.
Paul Terasaki is married to artist Hisako Terasaki, and they have four children.
