Welcome
In the world of academia, there is a recognized path that many follow, but at which few truly excel. There are but a comparative handful of truly great minds in every generation, and these are the people that change the world. These are the discoverers of grand theories, groundbreaking technology, and life-saving medicine. Dr. Joseph Schlessinger is one such great mind.
In his academic career, he has accomplished more than a dozen other scientists put together. Like most of the world’s leading scientists, he had an impressive start, first obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Physics in 1968 from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, followed by a Master’s in Chemistry in 1970 from the same institution. The young Schlessinger glided effortlessly through those early years of academia, graduating magna cum laude both times.
Staying firmly dedicated to his goal, he was immediately accepted to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, where he received his Ph.D. in 1974, after submitting his successful thesis work on “Study of Chemical and Biological Systems by Circular Polarization of Fluorescence.” As a postdoc fellow between 1974 and 1976, he began his research in earnest at Cornell’s Department of Chemistry and Applied Physics.
After a rewarding postdoc experience at Cornell, he spent the next several years at progressively more important pursuits, including a position at the National Institutes of Health, followed by a long tenure at the Weizmann Institute that culminated in his appointment as full professor in the Department of Chemical Immunology.
Schlessinger showed a remarkable ease in transitioning between academia and the world of biotechnology and entrepreneurial startups, as illustrated when he left Israel and headed to Pennsylvania to become research director at Rorer Biotech in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Progressing ever onward, after his five years at Rorer, he founded SUGEN, Inc. in 1991, and his seminal research there led to the discovery and eventual commercialization of Sutent, a ground-breaking cancer treatment for renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
