In 1966, Kimishige (“Kimi”) Ishizaka, along with his wife Teruko (‘Terry’) Ishizaka, first described a new antibody isotype: immunoglobulin E (IgE) which had a profound impact on both basic science and the clinical understanding of a major group of diseases.

Their paper, published in The Journal of Immunology,  unveiled a brand new antibody isotype, now known as IgE, so named because it was originally detected in the serum of a ragweed-sensitive patient with antibodies to ragweed antigen E. Subsequent studies by Kimi, most of them co-authored with Terry, confirmed IgE as the critical mediator of allergies—and firmly established Ishizaka as a giant in his field.

Ishizaka served as president of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) fro 1984–1985, and served on the AAI Council from 1979 to 1986, was the long-time president and scientific director of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology