Siegal's Bio

Frederick P. Siegal, MD

Frederic P. Siegal, a native New Yorker, attended Cornell University, received the MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and trained in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. After serving at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center during the Vietnam War, he was Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellow in Immunology at The Rockefeller University in the laboratory of Henry G. Kunkel, MD.

Since his fellowship, he has been involved in various aspects of research and treatment of immunodeficiency diseases. After ten years’ work in this area at Sloan-Kettering and Mt. Sinai, he published the original description of the first cases of AIDS (1981). This early experience led in two major directions.

He initiated studies leading to the development of a new drug, rifabutin, and with it demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of preventing MAC, the most prevalent and deadly opportunistic bacterial infection occurring in AIDS.

Dr. Siegal elucidated the role of a previously obscure immune cell type, now known to be central to the workings of the immune system. He had made the clinical observation that this cell, now call the plasmacytoid dendritic cell (“pDC”), had the ability to protect people with AIDS from opportunistic disease and death. Because these cells were obviously crucial to the survival of humans, he devoted 20 years to the definition of the PDC. The Wohl family, spearheaded by our honoree, Ms. Nancy Drake, has been especially supportive of Dr. Siegal’s cutting-edge research over the years.

Dr. Siegal has served as advisor for many governmental and private organizations, including NIH, AmFAR, and THO. He was Commissioner of Health for the Village of Ocean Beach, NY, and has been called “Hero of Medicine” by the International Association of Physicians for AIDS Care, among other professional honors. Since 1998, he has been Medical Director, Comprehensive HIV Center of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, Manhattan, and a member of the faculties of New York Medical College and Rockefeller University.