Commencement

2004 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker - Dr. Judah Folkman

Dr. Judah Folkman, born in Cleveland, Ohio, received his B.A. in 1953 from Ohio State University and his M.D. in 1957 from Harvard Medical School. As a student at Harvard, he received the Boylston Medical Prize, the Soma Weiss Award, and the Borden Undergraduate Award in Medicine.

He started his surgical training at Massachusetts General Hospital and served as Chief Resident in surgery from 1964-1965. His surgical residency was interrupted between 1960 and 1962 when he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

In 1965, Dr. Folkman joined Harvard’s Surgical Service at the Boston City Hospital. In 1967 he was promoted to Professor of Surgery at Harvard and to Surgeon-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital. After 14 years as Surgeon-in-Chief, he stepped down to devote his full time to research.

He also served for six months as Chief Resident in pediatric surgery at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital under Dr. C. Everett Koop.

At Children's Hospital, Dr. Folkman began his major laboratory effort on the study of angiogenesis. In 1980 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Cellular Biology at Harvard, and in 1981 he stepped down from the chairmanship in surgery in order to devote his full effort to research.

Dr. Folkman's discoveries on the mechanism of angiogenesis opened a field of investigation now pursued worldwide. He developed almost all of the methodology for this field including the first cloning and culture of capillary endothelial cells, sustained release polymer technology, and in vivo bioassays. Folkman predicted the existence of natural angiogenesis inhibitors and subsequently discovered the first of these, the angiostatic steroids, as well as two other families of inhibitor molecules. The possibility of anti-angiogenic therapy is now on a firm scientific foundation, not only in the treatment of cancer, but of many non-neoplastic diseases as well.

Angiogenesis inhibitors are currently in clinical trials in the U.S. And Europe.

Dr. Folkman's exceptional achievements have been recognized by hundreds of national and international awards. In 1990 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the Institute of Medicine. He holds honorary degrees from twelve universities.

Dr. Folkman is the author of 369 peer-reviewed papers. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and holds a certificate of Special Competence in Pediatric Surgery.