Atkinson honored by American Society of Hematology

The American Society of Hematology has honored John Atkinson, MD, the Samuel Grant Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for his significant contributions to the field of hematology.

He is one of two recipients of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize and is recognized for breakthroughs that have advanced understanding of the complement system, a fundamental component of the human immune system. The complement system plays a significant role in the manifestation of many blood disorders.

Atkinson has spent his career dedicated to understanding the role of the complement system, a network of proteins in the immune system. He and his colleagues discovered MCP, a regulator of the complement system now more commonly referred to as CD46. CD46 is expressed on nearly every human cell and protects healthy cells from complement system-mediated damage.

Atkinson shares the award with Peter Hillmen, MD, PhD, an emeritus professor of the University of Leeds School of Medicine. See the ASH news release for more information.

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