Samuel Behar MD, PhD

After graduating from UC Berkeley (Chemistry), Samuel Maurice Behar attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. and Ph.D. (Cell Biology). Afterward, he came to Boston to pursue clinical training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. There, he completed his Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Rheumatology and trained in cellular immunology in the lab of his mentor Michael Brenner. During the next years, he practiced Rheumatology and established his lab, which focused on immunity to tuberculosis. After 23 years, he joined the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he is currently a Professor of Microbiology.

Behar's lab has made important contributions to our understanding of immunity to tuberculosis, particularly in the context of how the immune response is coordinated and integrated in vivo. His interests span the early events following Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of macrophages, to T cell priming, acquisition of effector function, and memory responses. Our ultimate goal is to determine the immunological basis for protective immunity so it can be leveraged in vaccine design and the development of novel vaccine strategies.

Behar is proud of the scientists in his lab, both the current team and past alumni. He is gratified by their commitment to the process of science and the projects are engaged in. Many of them feel strongly about global health and health equity. He believes that serving as their mentor is among his most important responsibilities and it is a commitment that he embraces. His trainees have gone on to a variety of careers and several are faculty at major academic medical centers, have prominent positions in industry, and serve in the publishing industry.