Herman Waldmann

Georgina Ferry interviews Herman Waldmann. Herman Waldmann FRS is Emeritus Professor of Pathology, and was head of the Dunn School from 1994-2013. He read medicine at Cambridge and qualified as a doctor in London before returning to Cambridge to do a PhD in the Department of Pathology. In 1978 he joined César Milstein at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology to learn about monoclonal antibodies. Thereafter he pioneered the development of monoclonals as therapeutic agents, particularly Campath-1 (Alemtuzumab, now used to treat conditions including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and multiple sclerosis). In 1990 he set up a facility in Cambridge to make these agents (with Geoff Hale), but on his appointment as head of the Dunn School, he moved the Therapeutic Antibody Centre to Oxford. His headship saw a massive development on the Dunn School site, with the building of a new animal house, the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, the EP Abraham Research Building and the Oxford Molecular Pathology Institute (OMPI). The number of research groups also grew rapidly, and Waldmann's introduction of a central café has ensured that staff and students have a place to interact. Following his retirement he has continued to lead a research group working on mechanisms of immunological tolerance.