Lloyd J. Old

Lloyd J. Old

Lloyd John Old (September 23, 1933 – November 28, 2011) was internationally recognized as one of the founders and standard-bearers of the field of cancer immunology. When Old began his career in 1958, tumor immunology was in its infancy. Today, cancer immunotherapies are emerging as a significant advance in cancer therapy (reference?). Many of the seminal findings in the field that have led to this evolution have been contributed by Old, his students, and his colleagues.

Old’s contributions to research over the past five decades established many of the principles and priorities of modern tumor immunology. In earlier work, he and his colleagues introduced Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to tumor immunotherapy; discovered the first link between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease (leukemia); found the unexpected association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma; discovered tumor necrosis factor (TNF); defined the concept of cell-surface differentiation antigens with the discovery of TL, Lyt (CD8), and a range of other mouse antigenic systems; discovered p53, independently with two other groups; and identified the tumor immunogenicity of heat shock proteins. Old is the author or co-author of more than 700 research publications.

Prior to his death, Old held the William E. Snee Chair of Cancer Immunology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), where he was director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) New York Branch. He was also a trustee of the LICR Charitable Trust, and a trustee of the Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, which created the Ludwig Cancer network in 2006. From 1971 to 2011, he served as the founding scientific and medical director of the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), where from 2001 to 2011 he also served as director of the CRI/LICR Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC), an international network dedicated to testing and optimizing therapeutic cancer vaccines. Old’s previous appointments included Chairman of the LICR Board of Directors (2006–2009), LICR Scientific Director (1988 to 2005), Member of the Emeritus LICR Scientific Committee (1971–86), LICR Chief Executive Officer (1995–2004), and Associate Director of Research at MSKCC (1973–83).

As part of a distinguished service career Old served as a member of scientific advisory boards and committees including the Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Association for Cancer Research. Old is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, New York Academy of Sciences, Reticuloendothelial Society, Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Association of Immunologists, National Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Cancer Immunology, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has also received honorary doctor of medicine degrees from Karolinska Institute, the University of Lausanne, and the University College London. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in biology and earned a medical degree from the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.

He died November 28, 2011, in his New York City home, after several years battling advanced prostate cancer.