Louis Pillemer

Louis Pillemer (1908 - August 31 1957), was an American immunologist, an early investigator of the alternative complement pathway (a system of defense not dependent upon antibodies.)

He led a team at Western Reserve University which discovered properdin in 1954, [cite journal |author=PILLEMER L, BLUM L, LEPOW I, ROSS O, TODD E, WARDLAW A |title=The properdin system and immunity. I. Demonstration and isolation of a new serum protein, properdin, and its role in immune phenomena |journal=Science |volume=120 |issue=3112 |pages=279–85 |year=1954 |pmid=13186838 |doi=10.1126/science.120.3112.279] , and this discovery received attention from the national press as a breakthorough in immunology. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820180,00.html Death to Germs - TIME ] ]

In 1957, Robert Nelson challenged these findings, and claimed that Pillemer's results were due to laboratory errors. [cite journal |author=Nelson R |title=An alternative mechanism for the properdin system |journal=J. Exp. Med. |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=515–35 |year=1958 |pmid=13575682 |doi=10.1084/jem.108.4.515] Pillemer's death soon after publications was ruled a suicide.

Nelson's view prevailed at the time, but further study in the 1960s largely led to a confirmation of much of Pillemer's work. [cite journal |author=Lepow I |title=Presidential address to American Association of Immunologists in Anaheim, California, April 16, 1980. Louis Pillemer, Properdin, and scientific controversy |journal=J. Immunol. |volume=125 |issue=2 |pages=471–5 |year=1980 |pmid=6993558]

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