Surviving Immunology

In 1946, when Lewis Perelmutter was eleven years old, his father dropped dead of a heart attack. He and his mother were left destitute, moving from one Montreal hovel to the next. He dreamed of one day escaping poverty and changing the world. 

But there was more tragedy still to come. In 1980, he was trapped in a burning hotel room in Las Vegas during the devastating MGM Grand fire. Looking out his window, he watched in horror as desperate guests leapt to their deaths. 

Surviving Immunology explores how a poor Jewish boy became a successful clinical immunologist. It chronicles his seventy-year career, from his PhD days to his postdoctoral research to his groundbreaking work developing a blood test for allergic disease. Dr. Perelmutter discusses the many obstacles he encountered along the way, from antisemitism to bureaucratic interference. Instead of accepting the status quo or yielding to despair, this remarkable man reinvented himself to respond to a changing world. 

Surviving Immunology is more than a memoir. The author shares his experiences working on major public health issues, including AIDS, COVID-19, and extension-of-life research. Dr. Perelmutter educates the reader about immunology and the field's crucial role in modern medicine. He also offers a sharp critique of the Canadian health care system, and how the country is failing its most vulnerable patients. 

Candid, colourful, and sometimes controversial, Surviving Immunology is the story of a man who keeps fighting for a brighter future, even in his golden years.