About
Thomas Tallberg, September 2010 Curriculum vitae
Doctor Thomas Tallberg M.D. 1960, M.Sc.D. 1964, Docent in Immunology 1967, Immunologist for Helsinki University Central Hospital Clinics, 1970-1997, Senior lecturer in Immunology at Helsinki University 1967-1999. Head, Institute for Bio-Immunotherapy. Helsinki 00200 Ltd, 1990- Thomas Tallberg, born February 3. 1934 in Helsinki.
General Certificate of Education at Advanced Level 1952, with highest credits (Laudatur). Military service in the Finnish army 1952-1953. Was awarded the honorary sword (as primus) of the 771h course of the reserve officer school 1953. Started his medical training at the Helsinki University, Faculty of Medicine, in 1953.
Got his Medical Candidate degree 1956, Medical licentiate degree 1960, Dr, of Medicine and Surgery (dissertation on anti-hormones, and exophthalmos), MKD / LKT, in 1964. He was appointed as one of the first Docents in Immunology of the Helsinki University Medical Faculty, in 1967.
After years of teaching and theoretical studies in immunology and cancer immunity, at the Helsinki University, Department of Sero-Bacteriology 1963-1970, he was appointed Immunologist for all Helsinki University, Central Hospital Clinics in 1970-1997. He is still leading the Helsinki, Institute for Bio-Immunotherapy, and its’ Laboratory, from 1993.
His earlier clinical training can in short be summarized: He served as a Public Health Officer in Lapland, far north of the polar circle, as a resident in paediatrics at the Children’s Hospital in Lapland in the town of Rovanierni, also at the Town Hospital in Kotka in southern Finland, as well as at the University Paediatric Clinic in Helsinki for various lengths of time 1959-1961.
He started his scientific activities already during his medical studies. Due to his interest in modern immunological methods he was invited by Prof. P. Grabar to the Pasteur Institute in May 1958, to attend the first course on immunoelectrophoresis for foreign doctors. Following this visit he returned several times to the Pasteur Institute — to Prof. Grabars laboratory, also when it was located at the CNRS in Villejuif— in all for about half a year during the period 1959-1969.
In 1961-1963 he held a position as Research Associate at Columbia University, Medical Centre (New York), due to the fact that he mastered the most modem immunological techniques at that time. His research project was to produce and purify specific antisera directed against pituitary peptide hormones. These were required to elucidate why ovarian transplants in castrated rats, where one of the ovaries was transplanted into the spleen invariably transformed into tumours — folliculomas or luteomas.
Hypohpysectomy could prevent this malignant transformation. The aim was to test the effect of specific anti-FSH, and anti-LH sera as a selective biological hypohpysectomy. The result showed that injections of anti-FSH led to formation in the transplants of only luteomas. With anti-LH sera only follieulomas formed. The use of both hormone antisera prevented the malignant transformation into any form of tumour. Growth hormone did not transform the ovarian cells.
His thesis for a full doctorate (1964) centred on studies on exophthalmos producing substance (EPS), where he used several different specific anti-hormone sera, he had produced. The BPS was shown to be a separate antigenic pituitary peptide — different from that of TSH, also the substance probably clinically responsible for human, Graves disease.
He has published over 200 articles on immunological and cancer problems, developed the bio-immunotherapy modality for cancer, has studied mitochondrial regulation of the genome, and autologous stem-cell activation induced by organ, and cell-specific mitochondria.
He has thrice been honoured by the President of the Republic with official medals, as knight of the first order of the Finnish White Rose 1989, appointed Commander of the Finnish Lion 1994, and the Cross of Liberty II, 2009, plus two other medals. He received the Ernst Koprowski Cancer Price, in 1993, awarded by the German and Austrian Societies for Cancer, and elected honorary member of the Finnish Society of Biological Medicine, in 2000. President for, The Finnish Children’s Welfare Association, 1983- 2008, etc.
Thomas Tallberg passed away in May 2014 due to a long illness.