WASHINGTON (JTA) — Saudi Arabia awarded a top medical prize to an American Jewish oncologist.
Ronald Levy, who heads the oncology division at the Stanford University Medical School, won the 2009 King Faisal International Prize for medicine.
"Professor Levy has been recognized for his pioneering studies in Cancer Immunotherapy," says the prize’s Web site. "Almost 30 years ago he developed antibodies that could distinguish between malignant and benign tumor cells. This created a tool for diagnosis and therapy."
It also said that a drug Levy discovered has been used for more than a decade "to treat a large number of lymphoma patients with remarkable remission and survival results."
In a story published Friday, Levy told Ha’aretz that he and his family were treated with great hospitality when they traveled to Saudi Arabia to accept the prize. His wife and one of his daughters are Israeli-born, he noted.
