Alan Schreiber

Alan D. Schreiber, professor emeritus of medicine, researcher and former assistant dean for research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, died on October 2. He was 75.

Dr. Schreiber was born in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Newark’s Weequahic High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rutgers University in 1963 and a medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1967. He completed an internship and residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Dr. Schreiber then served as a commander at the National Institutes of Health during the Vietnam War, researching allergies and immunology. He worked as a research fellow at the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital of Harvard University.

Dr. Schreiber was recruited by the hematology-oncology division of Penn’s department of medicine and spent his 35-year career at Penn conducting research in that department. He joined as an assistant professor of medicine in 1973. In 1978, he became an associate professor of medicine and in 1984, he became a professor of medicine.

Dr. Schreiber’s research focused on the molecular and cellular biology of Fc receptors, or receptors for immunoglobulin G. The Schreiber laboratory was a major contributor to understanding the molecular and cell biology of these receptors in health and human diseases. The lab’s research had major implications for the scientific understanding of human immune-mediated thrombocytopenic disorders, in which activating antibodies directed against the platelet surface can lead to thrombosis. Dr. Schreiber also studied the role of receptors in end-stage kidney disease, in alcoholic cirrhosis and in the molecular signaling responsible for rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

He was honored for five years in a row, from 1975-1980, for his contributions to the science of leukemia by the Leukemia Society of America. In 1987, he received the MERIT Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH (Almanac February 2, 1988) and in 1994, he received the first international immunology award from the Kyoto University in Japan. Dr. Schreiber was the president of the Penn Chapter of Professors for Peace in the Middle East.

Dr. Schreiber served as chair of Penn’s graduate group of immunology from 1987-1993. He also authored more than 250 scientific petitions and filed dozens of patents. He served on the University Council Committee on Research, from 1998-99 and as its chair from 1999-2000. 

He joined the 25-Year Club in 1998 (Almanac November 24, 1998). In October 2008, Dr. Schreiber retired and became professor emeritus of hematology-oncology (Almanac May 26, 2009).

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Pamela; two daughters, Courtney and Rebecca; four grandchildren; and a sister, a niece and nephew.

Memorial donations may be made to Penn’s neurology department or to PEACE, Family Planning and Pregnancy Loss at Penn Medicine.

To Report a Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students and other members of the University community. Call (215) 898-5274 or email almanac@upenn.edu.

However, notices of alumni deaths should be directed to the Alumni Records Office at Room 517, Franklin Building, (215) 898-8136 or email record@ben.dev.upenn.edu.