Emory professor wins prestigious award

ATLANTA - Dr. Max Cooper poses for a photo in a research laboratory next to his office at Emory University School of Medicine, Friday, January 26, 2018. Cooper, a pediatrician and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, is being honored in the category "Medical Science and Medicinal Science" for research that identified the cellular building blocks of the immune system as we understand it today.ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM

ATLANTA - Dr. Max Cooper poses for a photo in a research laboratory next to his office at Emory University School of Medicine, Friday, January 26, 2018. Cooper, a pediatrician and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, is being honored in the category "Medical Science and Medicinal Science" for research that identified the cellular building blocks of the immune system as we understand it today.ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM

A veteran Emory University School of Medicine professor is a co-recipient of one of the world’s most prestigious scientific awards.

Dr. Max Cooper was named Tuesday a winner of the Japan Prize by its foundation for his work in immunology. Cooper, 84, and the famed Austrialian scientist, Dr. Jacques Miller, were recognized for research that has contributed significantly to the advancement of anti-cancer and anti-cytokine drugs for the treatment of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, prize officials say.

“I’m thrilled with (the prize), needless to say,” Cooper said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cooper traveled to Japan last weekend for the prize announcement.

Click here to read more about Cooper's journey to become a doctor and to learn more about his research.