Irving Weissman

Irving Weissman is the Virginia & D.K. Ludwig Professor of Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research, and Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford University. He earned his BS from Montana State College (1961) and his MD from Stanford University (1965). His research focuses on cancer immunotherapy, programmed cell removal by macrophages, and stem cell biology in skeletal development and regeneration. Recent breakthroughs include engineered mucus-tethering bispecific nanobodies for mucosal immunity (Nature Nanotechnology, 2026), scalable single-cell total RNA sequencing (Nature Biotechnology, 2026), and CAR macrophages with built-in CD47 blockers for tumor antigen heterogeneity (Nature Communications, 2025). He collaborates extensively with institutions across the US, Japan, Germany, and the UK, and has received major funding for research on neuronal degeneration and programmed cell removal.