Prof. Martin Raff is a world leader in Molecular Cell Biology. He is professor of biology at the London University and is the president of British Society of Cell Biology, Chairman of UK Life Sciences Committee. He received his medical degree from McGill University in the year 1963. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1968, fellow at National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London 1968-71, fellow of the Royal Society in 1985.

He was appointed as co-director of Medical Research Council developmental Neurobiology progarmme, University College London in the year 1971, Born on 15th January 1938 in Canada, Prof Raff is winner of many prestigious awards and Honours for his outstanding contribution in the field of Molecular Biology.

 

Author of more the 10 books and 200 publications. He is editor of Journal of Biology and Molecular Biology of the Cell, Journal of Cell Biology, and member of many national and international committees such as Lasker Prize Jury, 1996, Nuffield Council 1998, MRC Neurosciences EMBO council 1998-2000.

 

Prof. Raff's work has spanned many areas of immunology and development, ranging from his early work on T and B cells through the biology of the cell membrane, to the development of the nervous system and finally to wider aspects of cell development. Over the last decade his work has focused on programmed cell death or apoptosis. His group had found out that about 50% of the newly formed oligodendrocytes normally die in the development rat optic nerve.

 

On this basis he went on to write in his single author review " Programmed Cell Death " which he pointed out, occurs in most animal tissues at some stage of their development, but the molecular mechanism by which it was executed was unknown. Prof. Raff's group also contributed to the world- wide effort of analysing the process of programmed cell death. Having laid the foundation of the survival factor hypothesis Prof Raff also took the lead in identifying the factor molecules.

 

Because of his extraordinary communicative skills it is easy to regard Prof. Raff as primarily a disseminator of ideas. He has 191 publications, 8 editorials and 5 books.

 

His influential reviews on the molecular biology of the cell, is a great achievement. He is a member of several advisory boards. He achieved many honours. His success has made him a worthy recipient, for his outstanding experimental contributions to the role of cell death during development and in whole organisms, of the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence.