Dr. H. Robson MacDonald Appointed Director of Lausanne Branch
Dr. H. Robson MacDonald
At its meeting in New York in September, the LICR Board of Directors appointed H. Robson (Rob) MacDonald, Ph.D., as Director of the LICR Lausanne Branch in accordance with a recommendation by the Scientific Advisory Committee.
An internationally recognized authority in the field of immunology, Dr. MacDonald has been an LICR Member since 1981. He also holds a position as Senior Scientist at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC). Over the years, his research has made important contributions to our understanding of processes that lead to maturation and selection of T lymphocytes (immune cells that can mount protection against infections and tumors).
Dr. MacDonald was born in Canada but has spent a large part of his career in Switzerland. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto in Canada where he studied cytotoxic T cells, and moved to Lausanne Switzerland in 1972 to continue these studies as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jean-Charles Cerottini (Founding Director of the Lausanne Branch) at ISREC. A few years later, he went back to Canada for a brief stay at the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation in London, and returned to Lausanne in 1977 to join the LICR.
Dr. MacDonald has held a position as Associate Director of the Lausanne Branch since 1989. Last year, he became Acting Branch Director after the retirement of former Director, Dr. Cerottini. According to the Board of Directors, Dr. MacDonald’s steady hand, appreciation of the opportunities and challenges confronting the Branch, and insights into how to meet them, were determinative factors in the decision to elevate his appointment.