Leonore A. Herzenberg, D.Sc.
Professor of Genetics
Professor of the Interdepartmental Program in Immunology
The laboratory that my late husband, Leonard A. Herzenberg, and I jointly led for years has made many seminal contributions to immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) genetics and to functional analyses and lineage studies of mouse and human B and T cells.
In addition, of principal interest to studies proposed here, our many “firsts” include the initial development of the Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter (FACS), the development of the first monoclonal antibody reagents for FACS, and the continued development and improvement of computer support for the acquisition, analysis, display and storage of flow cytometry data. Although Len alone is commonly credited for this FACS development work, our joint authorship for the majority of our published studies in this area better reflects our well-balanced collaborative effort, in which Len focused more on hardware development and FACS commercialization while I focused more on biological applications and computer support for FACS data analysis and storage.
Len died in October, 2013. However, in the preceding years, I had already assumed a progressively greater share of the administration and scientific leadership in the lab, aided in no small part by my/our long-term collaborators (David Parks, Wayne Moore, Stephen Meehan and Guenther Walther, currently chair of the Stanford Department of Statistics). Therefore, while Len’s passing has greatly affected us all, the biology and flow cytometry work of the laboratory has continued to progress smoothly under my leadership.
Research
The flow cytometry side of my work centers mainly on the development of a knowledge-based, statistically valid, automated software that facilitates and improves the accuracy of high- dimensional (Hi-D) FACS in research and clinical settings.
I plan to continue this trajectory, focusing both on the software development efforts d and on our biomedical studies, in which we have used our advanced Hi-D FACS analysis and sorting methods to define two murine hematopoietic lineages, only one of which derives from BM HSC. Further, coupling these methods with IgH deep sequencing, we have revealed key functional differences between the two lineages. We are now using this technology to explore our recently developed humanized mouse model and to expand work conducted in other laboratories with human samples relevant to HIV and other diseases. These paradigm-setting biomedical studies have clearly benefitted from access to the state-of-the-art flow methods that we have developed, and in turn have opened new challenges and provided a realistic testing ground for our software development efforts. This symbiotic relationship will continue.
Publications
Please see publications link
Education
Brooklyn College, 1952-1954
Pamona College, 1953-1954
California Institute of Technology 1954-1955
US Department of Agriculture Graduate School 1958
University of Paris V (Sorbonne) 1979-1981
Research and Professional Experience
1953 Research Assistant, Biology Department, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (Dr. Robert Tyler, Supervisor)
1955 Research Assistant, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France (Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, supervisor)
1957 Research Assistant, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (Dr. Bruce Ames, supervisor)
1959 Research Assistant, Genetics Department, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, Calif. (Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, supervisor)
1962 Research Assistant, Genetics Department and Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Stanford University Medical School (Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg and Robert Goodlin, supervisor)
1963 Senior Research Assistant same
1967 Research Associate same
1973 Research Associate, Genetics Dept., Stanford University (Dr. Leonard A. Herzenberg, supervisor)
1975 Senior Research Associate same
1989 Professor of Genetics (Research), Dept. of Genetics, Stanford University
2015 Flow Cytometry Chair and Professor in Genetics
Honors and Awards
Royal Microscopical Society, Honorary Fellowship, 2016
Computer World Laureate, 2010
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, elected fellow, 2010
Kyoto Prize, 2008, awarded to Len Herzenberg at the Japanese ceremony in Kyoto and jointly to Len and Lee Herzenberg at the United States ceremony in San Diego, CA
ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award, 1996, awarded to Lee Herzenberg and the Herzenberg Laboratory for
“Heroic Achievement in Information Technology… and Visionary use of Information Technology in the field of Medicine.”
American Cancer Society-Eleanor Roosevelt Cancer Fellowship, 1986
Member, American Association of Immunologists, Committee on Minority Affairs, 1993-96
Midwinter Conference of Immunology: Member, Governing Council, 1982-85, 1987-90; Workshop Organizer, 1974, 1976; Co- Chair, 1984 meeting, "B Cell Regulation and Development"
International Congress of Immunology: Symposium Chair & Speaker, 1986; Symposium speaker, 1983, 1989. FASEB: Symposium Chair, 1987 New York Academy of Sciences: Principal Organizer & Co-chair, 1991 meeting, "CD5 B Cells in Development and Disease"
"Frontiers in Immunology '95" (Symposium honoring Leonore A. Herzenberg), February 10-11, 1995. American Association of Immunologists, Member, (>20 yrs)
Genetics Society of America, Member, (>20 yrs)
Others too numerous to mention.