Bill Paul: The heart of immunology

Abstract

Sadly, on September 19, 2015, a giant in the field of immunology, William “Bill” Paul, died of lymphoma. The passing of this outstanding scientist, with his warm avuncular personality and intense excitement about immunology, is a great loss to the field. His self-effacing manner and erudition were instrumental in advancing modern immunology as a discipline, an influence that continues through the many immunologists he has trained and influenced. Bill was born in Brooklyn in 1936 to parents who were European emigres. He attended local schools, including Brooklyn College and the State University of New York College of Medicine, Downstate, followed by internal medicine training at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, now Boston Medical Center. To fulfill his military obligation, Bill joined the Public Health Service and engaged in clinical and laboratory research in the Endocrinology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. There, in the research group of Roy Hertz, Bill participated in the first curative chemotherapy for choriocarcinoma. His laboratory work in developing a radioimmunoassay for thyroid-stimulating hormone stimulated his nascent interest in fundamental aspects of immune responses.