Polly matzinger memorial stadium

French-born American immunologist

Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger (born July 21, 1947) is a French-born immunologist who proposed the danger model theory of how the immune system works.^[1]

Early years

Polly Matzinger was born on July 21, 1947, in France to a French mother (Simone) and a Dutch father (Hans).^[1] In 1954, she immigrated to the U.S.

with her sister, Marjolaine, and parents. Her prior jobs included being a bass jazz musician, carpenter, dog trainer, waitress, and Playboy Bunny.^[2][3] She finished her bachelor's of science in biology at the University of California, Irvine in 1976,^[3] and doctorate in biology at the University of California, San Diego in 1979.^[4][5] She then did four years of postdoctoral work at the University of Cambridge^[3] and was a scientist at the Basel Institute for Immunology for six years before working at the National Institutes of Health in