Judah Folkman

Judah Folkman (b. 24 February 1933) is an American cellular scientist best known for his research on angiogenesis and vasculogenesis.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Folkman attended Ohio State University and then Harvard Medical School. After his graduation, he worked at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he rose to the rank of chief resident in surgery. During this time, Folkman worked on liver cancer and atrio-pacemakers. His work earned him the Boylston Medical Prize, Soma Weiss Award, and the Borden Undergraduate Award in Medicine.

Between 1960 and 1962, Folkman served for the U.S. Navy, where he studied blood vessel growth. In 1971 he published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, stating that all cancer tumors were angiogenesis-dependent. Though his hypothesis was disregarded by most experts in the field at first, Folkman continued his research. After several years, his theory became widely accepted. He is now considered the leading expert and founder of the angiogenesis field, which now offers many potentials in medicine. He has trained numerous leaders in medicine and biomedical engineering, including Donald Ingber and Robert Langer.

Dr. Folkman is currently Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and is also director of the Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital Boston.

Awards
2006 Jacobson Innovation Award from the American College of Surgeons in honor of living surgeons who have been innovators of a new development or technique in any field of surgery. In 2005, Dr. Folkman was invited to be the main speaker at the "Presidential Science Symposium" at the "ASCO Annual Meeting 2005". The "ASCO Annual Meetings" are the most influential clinical oncology meetings worldwide. In 2003, "The Angiogenesis Foundation" awarded Dr. Folkman a "Distinguished Achievement Award".