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We Remember Prof. Zeev Pancer

Zeev Pancer
1957-2014

pancer.jpgAssociate Professor Zeev Pancer, a faculty member in the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore died in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 20, 2014. He was 56 years old.
Pancer's work has led to the identification of unique antibodies derived from jawless fish (lamprey and hagfish), representatives of the oldest vertebrate taxa. The structure of these antibodies is unique compared to antibodies of all jawed vertebrates (from shark to man) which consist of immunoglobulins. They consist of many leucine rich repeated sequences and are termed Variable Lymphocyte Receptors (VLRs) and they can target diverse antigens, comparable to that of the human antibodies and T-cell receptors. Dr Pancer earned a B.Sc. in biology in Tel Aviv University, Israel in 1985, a M.Sc. in animal sciences in 1988 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and a D.Sc. comparative immunology in 1994 at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. From 1994 to 2005 Pancer carried out postdoctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; Mainz University, Germany; the California Institute of Technology and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
Pancer and his research staff developed an innovative high-throughput method to isolate antigen-specific binding VLR clones using yeast surface display. At the time of his death he was working to create a “synthetic immune system” by grafting to yeast the essential components of adaptive immunity. This study would retrace the adaptations that are required for an organism to acquire a complex adaptive immune system, providing insights into origins and function of the human immune system.
A memorial seminar will be held on Friday 23 May at 10am to celebrate the life and research of Prof. Pancer. More information on the seminar can be found here.

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