Rochelle Hirschhorn, MD

Rochelle Hirschhorn, MD

Dr. Rochelle Hirschhorn received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1953, and earned her M.D. from New York University School of Medicine in 1957. She served as a house officer in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital, and completed her Fellowship training in Rheumatology at New York University and, for Human Genetics at London's University College and at Harvard Medical School, where she studied under Dr. Stuart Orkin.

As a young medical student, Dr. Hirschhorn immersed herself in the world of research, a common thread that has run through her long career.  Her work has included cellular immunology, leukocyte biology, inherited immunodeficiency, and lysosomal storage diseases.

Her discoveries have led to new therapies for adenosine deaminase deficiency (a form of severe combined immunodeficiency) and for alpha-glucosidase deficiency (the defect in glycogen storage disease type II).

Dr. Hirschhorn served as the longstanding NYU School of Medicine counselor for the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, and she was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She has received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Barnard College, as well as the Solomon A. Berson Medical Alumni Achievement Award from NYU.