Thomas Fletcher Tedder (May 14, 1956 – March 18, 2024) was an American immunologist. He is best known for his work in the fields of

B lymphocyte B cells, also known as B lymphocytes, are a type of the lymphocyte subtype. They function in the humoral immunity component of the adaptive immune system. B cells produce antibody molecules which may be either secreted or inserted into the plasm ...

biology and regulation. He was the Alter E. Geller Professor for Research in Immunology at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Career

Tedder received his Ph.D. in molecular cell biology from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 1984 and completed his postdoctoral training as a research fellow in pathology at Harvard Medical School. He was a faculty member at

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

from 1985 to 1998 before joining Duke University in 1993 as its founding chairman of immunology. Tedder studies the structure and function of B lymphocyte cell surface molecules that regulate B cell function, activation, and signal transduction. He currently has 401 total publications and 25 issued patents relating to B cells and their products, including CD19, CD20, CD22, CD83, and L-selectin. He has founded four

biotherapeutic A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, th ...

companies, including Angelica Therapeutics, Cellective Therapeutics, Cellective BioTherapy and most recently, Antigenomycs, Inc. The drug Tedder developed at Cellective Therapeutics,

inebilizumab Inebilizumab, sold under the brand name Uplizna, is a medication for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults and IgG4-RD. Inebilizumab is a humanized mAb that binds to and depletes CD19+ B cells including pl ...

, has now been approved for NMSOD use in the United States under the clinical name Uplizna. Tedder died on March 18, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tedder, Thomas Duke University faculty University of Alabama alumni American immunologists 1956 births 2024 deaths