Prof. Norman Letvin Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA

Norman Letvin was Chief of the Division of Viral Pathogenesis at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He received both his undergraduate and medical degrees at Harvard University, before pursuing postgraduate training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and then returning to Boston. In 1978 Letvin joined the... read morelaboratory of Baruj Benacerraf and began his study of the immune system. He became chair of the Division of Immunology at the New England Regional Primate Center of Harvard Medical School before he joined the Beth Israel Decaonees Medical Centre in 1994. He was a very influential figure in the field of AIDS research, particularly in the field of retroviruses in non-human primates. His discovery of the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) helped significantly advance our understanding AIDS. He showed the central role of CD8+ T lymphocytes in controlling HIV replication and developed novel technologies for the vaccine induction of cellular immune responses. Norman Letivin died on May 28, 2012, at the age of 62 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Letvin is survived by his wife, Marion, and his four children, Andrea, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Adam.