The Late Dr. Paul Terasaki was a true pioneer in the area of clinical histocompatibility and transplantation immunology and one of the greatest contributors of knowledge to this field. Dr. Terasaki spent the majority of his career studying the impact of HLA antibodies based on his “Humoral Theory of Transplantation”.
 
In 1964, Dr. Terasaki developed the microlymphocytotoxicity assay, which marked the beginning of clinical histocompatibility testing.  More importantly, this assay helped explain early allograft loss and provided a means to avoid such failures.  To date, pre-transplant antibody studies for patients awaiting solid organ and stem cell transplantation remain the standard of care throughout the world.  
For this innovation, Dr. Terasaki was inducted, post-humously, into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2018.
 

The life and legacy of Dr. Paul Terasaki continues onward through the efforts of Terasaki Innovation Center, Inc. (TIC). TIC strives to further the contributions of Dr. Terasaki by focusing on the specific mechanisms through which antibody affects transplantation outcomes.  At present, a number of projects are planned. 

They include:

• Understand the full pathogenic scope of HLA antibody

• Evaluate the potential of individual B-cells to make HLA antibody

• Assess the discrete nature of epitopes recognized by HLA antibodies and how they may affect pathogenicity.

• Define unique immunological characteristics that signal early, ie; sub-clinical, antibody mediated rejection that will drive the development of novel therapies.