Philippa Marrack


Philippa "Pippa" Marrack FRS is an English immunologist and academic, based in the United States, best known for her research into T cell development, T cell apoptosis and survival, adjuvants, autoimmune disease, and for identifying superantigens, the mechanism behind toxic shock syndrome. She collaborates with her husband, John W. Kappler.

Biography

Dr. Marrack was born in Ewell, England on 28 June 1945. She completed both undergraduate and PhD work at New Hall, Cambridge. During her PhD, she worked at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology with Alan Munro, where she began to study the differences between T cells and B cells.
She later did postdoctoral work with Richard Dutton at the University of California, San Diego.
Her first faculty position was with the University of Rochester, followed by National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado and the University of Colorado. She is Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
She collaborates with her husband John W. Kappler. They met in 1971 as postdoctoral fellows at the University of California San Diego. In 1983 they discovered the T cell receptor, together with Ellis Reinherz and James Allison.
She attributes her interest in immunology to her great uncle British pathologist John Marrack.
Marrack plays the piano and is a blues guitarist.

Professional Activities

Dr. Marrack served as president of the American Association of Immunologists from 2000 to 2001 and the AAI Council from 1995 to 2002.

Significant papers