Rene Duquesnoy was born in The Netherlands, where he obtained an Ingenieur degree in chemical engineering from the Technological University of Delft. He received a Ph.D. degree in Pathology from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, and did a post-doctoral fellowship with Robert A. Good at the University of Minnesota. After his affiliation with the Medical College of Wisconsin and The Blood Center of Wisconsin in 1984, he became a tenured Professor of Pathology, with joint appointments in Immunology and Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Until 2006, he was a director of UPMC tissue typing laboratory where he served later on as a clinical consultant. Since 2009, he is Professor Emeritus of Pathology.

Rene’s research deals with HLA and transplantation immunology. His curriculum vitae list 390 publications and more than 500 scientific presentations at national and international meetings. Milestones include cross-reactive HLA matching in platelet transfusions, the discovery of the MB system (now called HLA-DQ), alloreactivity of graft-infiltrating T-cells, the dualistic effect of HLA in liver transplantation, the role of stress proteins in transplant immunity and HLA antibody analysis of highly sensitized patients. His current studies deal with a structurally based histocompatibility algorithm called HLAMatchmaker, the establishment of an international registry of HLA epitopes and addressing the concept of HLA epitope matching in organ transplantation.

• 1951-1956: Zandvliet Lyceum, The Hague, The Netherlands
  HBS-B Diploma
• 1956-1963: Technological University, Delft, The Netherlands
  Ingenieur Degree in Chemical Engineering
• 1963-1967: University of Tennessee, Medical Units, Memphis
  Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Pathology
• 1968-1970: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Immunology