Professor Doron Melamed is a world-renowned expert in the areas of immunology and aging. His work throughout the years has focused on the development, selection, differentiation, and pathologies of B lymphocytes — cells that are produced in bone marrow and protect us from viruses and diseases.
Seeking to understand why the elderly are more susceptible to severe cases of infectious diseases, such as the recent COVID 19, he recently discovered a mechanism that could help the body regenerate “flexible” B lymphocytes that are capable of adapting to reinfection with new (mutated) variants of the returning viruses. The research has implications for rejuvenating the aging immune system and protecting the elderly from COVID-19 and other diseases.
Prof. Melamed earned his bachelor’s degree in animal sciences, his master’s in pathology, and his doctorate in immunology — all from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He conducted four years of postdoctoral research at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado before joining the Department of Immunology in the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine in 1998.
