Ellen Vitetta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ellen Vitetta
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Connecticut College New York University |
| Occupation | Professor of Microbiology and Immunology |
| Known for | Director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas |
Dr. Ellen S. Vitetta is a very important scientist. She leads the Cancer Immunobiology Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. This center studies how our body's defense system, called the immune system, can fight cancer.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ellen Vitetta went to college at Connecticut College. She then studied even more at New York University. There, she earned advanced degrees in medicine and science.
Her Amazing Career
Dr. Vitetta is a professor who teaches about tiny living things (microbiology) and our body's defense system (immunology). She is the director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center. She also holds special teaching positions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Discoveries and Inventions
Dr. Vitetta has written over 500 scientific papers. She has also helped create 24 inventions that have patents. She is known as one of the top 100 most-cited biomedical scientists in the world. This means many other scientists use her work in their own research.
She is an immunologist, which is a scientist who studies the immune system. She works on "bench to bedside" research. This means she takes discoveries from the lab (the "bench") and tries to turn them into treatments for people (the "bedside").
Dr. Vitetta and her team made some big discoveries. They were the first to find a special protein called IgD on the surface of certain immune cells. They also helped discover Interleukin-4 (IL-4). They showed that IL-4 acts like a "switch" for immune cells.
For the past 20 years, Dr. Vitetta has been creating "biological missiles." These are special antibody-based medicines. They are designed to find and destroy cancer cells or cells infected with HIV. These new medicines have been studied a lot in labs and in animals. Since 1988, over 300 people have also taken part in studies to test them.
In 2001, Dr. Vitetta successfully created a vaccine to protect against ricin. Ricin is a very dangerous poison. This vaccine was the first of its kind to be tested in people.
Important Memberships and Awards
Dr. Vitetta is a member of several very important science groups. These include the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was the first biomedical scientist from Texas to be chosen for the National Academy of Sciences.
She was also the president of the American Association of Immunologists in 1994. This group gave her an award for helping other scientists in 2002. In 2007, she received their Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors her amazing work throughout her career. In 2006, she was added to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.
Dr. Vitetta's former student, Linda Buck, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004. This shows how well Dr. Vitetta teaches and guides young scientists.
Awards and Honors
- 2007 American Association of Immunologists Lifetime Achievement Award
- Texas Women's Hall of Fame (2006)
- Institute of Medicine (2006)
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003)
- Mentoring Award, American Association of Immunologists (2002)
- Charlotte Friend Award, American Association for Cancer Research (2002)
- Rosenthal Award, American Association for Cancer Research (1995)
- President, American Association of Immunologists (1994)
- National Academy of Sciences (1994)
- FASEB Excellence in Science Award (1991)
- American Academy of Microbiology
