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Appointments
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Attending Physician
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Professor of Medicine
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Rochelle Belfer Professor in Medicine
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Smith, Kendall Arthur
 (212) 746-4608  (212) 746-8167
Kendall A. Smith is the Rochelle Belfer Professor of Immunology and Medicine at Cornell University?s Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He is also a Senior Attending Physician and Chief of The Division of Immunology at The New York Presbyterian Medical Center.
Smith graduated with a B.S. in biology from Denison University, Granville, Ohio and summa cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. After clinical training in Medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and hematology/oncology research at the National Cancer Institute and Dartmouth Medical School, Dr. Smith embarked an investigative career that focused on fundamental studies of cell proliferation. While a postdoctoral fellow at L?Institut de Cancerologie et d?Immunogenetique in Villejuif France, he first studied the effects of interferon on the proliferation of erythroid precurser cells [1]. Subsequently, while on the faculty at Dartmouth Medical School for 20 years, Dr. Smith focused on basic research into lymphocyte proliferation and how the immune system operates, and made several fundamental discoveries that transformed our understanding of immunity. Dr. Smith?s research team created the first antigen-specific monoclonal T lymphocytes, which revolutionized the study of T cells [2]. Among other things, this advance allowed them to discover, characterize and purify the interleukin 2 (IL2) molecule to homogeneity [3]. They then showed that IL2 is the major growth factor (hormone) for mature T cells [4]. This discovery allowed them to demonstrate that IL1 and IL2 are distinct cytokines, thereby creating the interleukin nomenclature [5, 6]. They then went on to discover and characterize the IL2 receptor, which was the first interleukin receptor ever described [7]. Further research into the IL2-IL2 receptor interaction revealed that the cell determines to divide by counting the number of receptor ?hits? delivered by IL2, and that this mechanism is responsible for exquisite growth control of normal cells [8]. The understanding that these discoveries provided, led Smith to move his research to New York 14 years ago, when he added clinical research to his fundamental efforts. Since 1994, Smith and his research group at Weill Cornell have focused on new approaches to augment immunity to treat chronic viral infections. More recently Smith?s team has developed a collaborative project with Dr. Marc Feldmann of the Imperial College London, to develop new treatments and vaccines for influenza virus infection.
1. Smith KA, Fredrickson TN, Mobraaten LW, DeMaeyer E: The interaction of erythropoietin with fetal liver cells II. Inhibition of the erythropoietin effect by interferon. Exp Hematol 1977, 5:333-340.
2. Baker PE, Gillis S, Smith KA: Monoclonal cytolytic T-cell lines. J Exp Med 1979, 149:273-278.
3. Smith KA, Favata MF, Oroszlan S: Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to human interleukin 2: strategy and tactics. J Immunol 1983, 131:1808-1815.
4. Smith KA: T-cell growth factor. Immunol Rev 1980, 51:337-357.
5. Smith KA, Gilbride KJ, Favata MF: Lymphocyte activating factor promotes T-cell growth factor production by cloned murine lymphoma cells. Nature 1980, 287:853-855.
6. Smith KA, Lachman LB, Oppenheim JJ, Favata MF: The functional relationship of the interleukins. J Exp Med 1980, 151:1551-1556.
7. Robb RJ, Munck A, Smith KA: T cell growth factor receptors: Quantitation, specificity, and biological relevance. J Exp Med 1981, 154:1455-1474.
8. Cantrell DA, Smith KA: The interleukin-2 T-cell system: a new cell growth model. Science 1984, 224:1312-1316.
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