title: Looking back.
abstract: In this Perspective, I review my scientific career, which began after I trained in medicine in Montreal and in neurology in Boston. I started in immunology in London with Avrion Mitchison, using antibodies against cell-surface antigens to study the development and functions of mouse T and B cells. The finding that antibody binding causes immunoglobulin on B cells to redistribute rapidly on the cell surface and be endocytosed transformed me from an immunologist into a cell biologist. I moved with Mitchison to University College London, where my colleagues and I used the antibody approach to study cells of the rodent nervous system, focusing on the intrinsic and extrinsic molecular mechanisms that control the development and behavior of myelinating glial cells-Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes. I retired from active research in 2002 and now spend much of my time on scientific advisory boards and thinking about autism.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. m.raff@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000276:immunology; D001321:Autistic Disorder; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D002170:Canada; D016923:Cell Death; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism; D008131:London; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D012108:Research Personnel; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D007136:Immunoglobulins