Prof. Dr. Raphael "Ray" Levey
Chairman, Global Medical Forum Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland
Recognized as a leader in developing new directions in healthcare, Prof. Dr.
Levey is a well-known figure in the medical industries of both North America
and Europe as well as the Middle East and North Africa. He had been nominated
several times for Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Upon graduation from Princeton in 1955 (Magna Cum Laude in Biology), Dr. Levey
entered Harvard Medical School and received his degree with Honors in 1959. Dr.
Levey entered into the Surgical Residency program at Massachusetts General
Hospital, graduating as Chief Resident in 1968. He then spent two years in
London as a Visiting Consultant in Pediatric Surgery at the Hospital for Sick
Children.
Seeing the need to delve further into research in order to progress the
knowledge and thus technology of surgery, he began his research at the National
Institutes of Health in Bethesda (1961 - 1963) and then in London (1965 -
1966), working with the famed Peter Medawar (Nobel Laureate in Medicine, 1960)
This research would continue well into his surgical career at Harvard Medical
School, where he began to practice surgery full-time in 1970, obtaining tenure
in 1975.
Having completed his clinical training in general and thoracic surgery at the
Massachusetts General Hospital and having spent four years in basic research at
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda and at the National
Institute for Medical Research in London, he joined the Faculty of the Harvard
Medical School (HMS) in the Department of Surgery at the Children's Hospital
and in the Division of Medical Sciences (Immunology). He received tenure at HMS
in 1975. He founded the Organ Transplantation Program at Children's Hospital,
serving as Chief of Unit for over ten years, and performed the first successful
Bone Marrow, Kidney and Liver Transplants at the hospital.
He was a Moseley Fellow in Medicine at HMS, a Markle Scholar in Academic
Medicine, and a Faculty Research Associate of the American Cancer Society. He
was a member of the Advisory Council at Princeton University and of the
Transplantation and Immunology Committee at the NIH. He has held visiting
Professorships at many European and North American Universities and was elected
a Member of the College de France.
He is the author of over 80 scientific papers in leading refereed journals and
has received numerous grants from the American Cancer society and NIH. In the
early 1970s, he developed in the laboratory and then transferred to clinical
use an entire new class of immunosuppressive agents and, in so doing, worked
closely with pharmaceutical companies and the Food and Drug Administration.
Scientific & Medical Contributions:
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Original research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda gave the
first demonstration that the thymus gland, the master gland of the immune
system, acted by a hormonal mechanism.
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Landmark research carried out with Sir Peter Medawar (Nobel Laureate in
Medicine 1960) at the National Institutes for Medical research London;
discovery of antilymphocyte serum, the first biological immunosuppresive agent.
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The discovery of lymphocyte ecology and immunologic tolerance, an entirely new
concept in immunology which was subsequently verified by other independent
investigators.
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The first use of whole antilymphocyte serum in children, one of the most
important of its kind in medicine, and the demonstration of the clinical use
and importance of a whole new class of immunosuppressive agents.
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The complete correction of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome by allogeneic
bone-marrow transplantation, a truly pioneering work in clinical
transplantation immunobiology.
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Analysis of the discrete stages of human intrathymic differentiation: analysis
of normal thymocytes and leukemic lymphoblasts of T-cell lineage; pioneering
work on the evolution and maturation of the immune system.
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Discovery of Antihelper T cell autoantibody in acquired agammaglobulinemia, an
extremely interesting observation with extremely important clinical
implications for the treatment of immunological disorders.
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Publication of a land mark paper documenting continuing expansion of the
understanding of the master gland of the immune system, based on work begun by
Dr. Levey 20 years earlier.
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The most successful use worldwide of the treatment of Neuroblastoma at the
Joint Center for Radiation Therapy/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Children's
Hospital as well as important contributions to the treatment of a common tumor
in children and newborns. The series of patients treated by Dr. Levey had the
best survival figures in the world.
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The first successful use of an immunosuppressive regimen using antithymocyte
serum; the serum was developed and produced in Dr. Levey’s laboratory.
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The surgical management of fungal pulmonary infections in children with acute
myelogenous leukemia by the Pediatric Surgical Oncology Group of which Dr.
Levey was the Chief; successful treatment of one of the dreaded complications
of the treatment of leukemia.
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Discovery of the method for maintenance of vascular access patency in
pediatrics. Vascular access (i.e., making it possible to hemodialyse children)
was previously a severe problem.
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The discovery of a new form of medical and surgical management of typhlitis in
children with acute nonlymphocytic (myelogenous) leukemia, an important
contribution to the treatment of a lethal complication of chemotherapy in
children.
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Treatment of chronic renal allograft rejection with cyclosporine and prendisone
through a new immunosuppressive regimen discovered by Dr. Levey that allowed
children to grow.
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Completion of the first and most important series of renal transplants in the
very young (2 years of age), which demonstrated the feasibility of successfully
using adult kidneys in babies.
In the late 1970s, foreseeing that the progressive escalation of healthcare
costs in the United States would soon preclude the vast majority of foreign
patients from seeking state-of-the-art care there and furthermore, that in
Europe, with nationalized health systems, the non-national's access to
hospitals was becoming more and more limited, Prof. Dr. Levey founded Health
Care International (HCI). The purpose and eventual success of the company was
in developing a private, for-profit, highest quality, University hospital in
English speaking Europe, closer to an under-served market from Southern Europe,
the Middle East and North Africa, which would provide the most advanced care
for complicated illnesses at reasonable costs.
Prof. Dr. Levey served as Chairman of the Company and was responsible for
raising £185 million, creating what was the largest start-up company in the
history of the City of London. He identified the equity investors, developed
the functional program, obtained planning permission to build the medical
complex and developed extensive contacts with the highest levels of the UK
government and all relevant pan-European regulatory agencies in the healthcare
industry. He furthermore, through both this project and other endeavors, became
a key figure in the development of healthcare policy in the Middle East, GCC
and North Africa, advising many key ministers and leaders in the region on
appropriate policies for the future. Of equal importance have been the
relationships established with the major equipment and technology suppliers to
HCI.
Prof. Dr. Levey is currently chairman of International Healthcare Partners
(IHP), a full-service consultancy specializing in healthcare, with its
particular strength being derived from its broad first-hand knowledge of the
science and delivery of state-of-the-art treatments and technologies as
practiced and developed in leading academic institutions.
He also currently serves on the advisory boards of and as a Director of
biomedical and biotechnology companies as well as on those of venture
investment funds.
In summary, Prof. Dr. Levey has over 30 years of international experience in
the scientific, business and clinical sectors of healthcare. His demonstrated
success in interfacing with leaders in the political, financial, academic and
industrial areas has allowed him to develop an unparalleled network of
affiliations and achievements.
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