Sidney Pestka Scientist

Sidney Pestka (born May 29, 1936) is an American biochemist and geneticist who is Emeritus Professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Rutgers University. A recipient of the National Medal of Technology, he is sometimes referred to as the "father of interferon" for his groundbreaking work developing the interferons as treatments for major diseases such as hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. Pestka was part of the team working on research involving the genetic code, protein synthesis and ribosome function that led to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine received by Marshall Warren Nirenberg.