Eva Klein
Eva Klein (née Eva Fischer; born January 22, 1925) is a Hungarian-Swedish scientist. Klein has worked at the Karolinska Institute since leaving Hungary in 1947. She is regarded as a founder of cancer immunology.
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Eva Klein with her husband, George Klein, Stockholm, April 1979 | |
| Born | Eva Fischer 22 January 1925 |
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Her life and career choices as a young Jewish woman were constrained by discrimination, and she survived the late stages of German occupation in hiding. A medical doctor with a PhD in biology, she has worked in cancer immunology and virology.
In the 1960s, she led the discovery of natural killer cells and developing Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines.
In 1975, the U.S. Cancer Research Institute established the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology. The inaugural award was shared by 16 scientists considered to be "founders of cancer immunology", including Eva and George Klein. Their award noted their "discoveries of tumor-specific antigens in the mouse, to the most comprehensive immunological analysis of a human cancer, Burkitt's lymphoma".
She has pursued her own lines of work as well as working closely with her husband, George Klein. They are both regarded as founders of cancer immunology. They have three children.