Dr. Judah Folkman was a pioneering cancer biologist and pediatric surgeon who revolutionized oncology through his groundbreaking research on tumor angiogenesis. Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933 to a rabbi father, he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1957 and completed his surgical training at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the unprecedented young age of 34, he was appointed Surgeon-in-Chief of Children's Hospital Boston in 1967, and the following year became the Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Harvard Medical School, making him the youngest full professor in the institution's history. Throughout his distinguished career, Folkman maintained dual appointments as Professor of Surgery and Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, establishing himself as a visionary who bridged clinical medicine and fundamental biological research.
Dr. Folkman's most transformative contribution emerged from his 1961 observation as a navy doctor that tumors require blood vessels to grow, culminating in his seminal 1971 New England Journal of Medicine publication proposing that solid tumors are angiogenesis-dependent and could be treated by inhibiting blood vessel formation. Despite initial skepticism from the scientific community, his persistent research established the foundation for anti-angiogenic therapy, creating an entirely new field of vascular biology that has fundamentally changed cancer treatment paradigms. His work directly led to the development of FDA-approved angiogenesis inhibitors including Avastin, with over 10 such drugs now available and more than 1.2 million patients worldwide having received antiangiogenic treatments by the time of his death. Beyond oncology, Folkman's insights also revolutionized the treatment of macular degeneration, demonstrating the profound breadth of his scientific impact across multiple medical disciplines.
As a master clinician and dedicated educator, Dr. Folkman was renowned for his exceptional teaching abilities and compassionate patient care, receiving numerous Harvard Medical School teaching awards for his ability to integrate cutting-edge biology with clinical practice. His Vascular Biology Program at Children's Hospital Boston grew into a world-leading research center that trained generations of scientists and clinicians, extending his intellectual legacy far beyond his own publications. By the time of his death in 2008, Folkman's visionary work had not only spawned multiple successful cancer therapies but had also established the conceptual framework for understanding vascular development in numerous other diseases. Though he passed away at age 74 while traveling to a medical conference, his pioneering contributions continue to influence biomedical research worldwide, with his insight that tumors cannot grow beyond a certain size without having new blood vessels to feed them remaining one of the most important principles in modern oncology.
