Seymour J. Klebanoff: Discoverer of WBC killing mechanisms

Abstract

Seymour J. Klebanoff, MD, PhD, died peacefully on August 31, 2016 at the age of 89. He began his medical and scientific career at the University of Toronto (Doctor of Medicine, 1951), where he coauthored his first paper, dealing with renal anatomy, in 1950 (1). Klebanoff proceeded to complete Doctor of Philosophy studies in biochemistry at the University of London (1954), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto and the Rockefeller University. Studies conducted at the Rockefeller, investigating thyroid peroxidase and its role in iodinating tyrosine to form thyroid hormones, attracted the attention of the distinguished endocrinologist Robert H. Williams, founding chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. Klebanoff was recruited to the University of Washington, where he spent the remainder of his career, making many important scientific contributions and serving in key leadership positions.