Paul Terasaki

American scientist in the field of human organ transplant technology, and professor emeritus of surgery at UCLA School of Medicine.

He spent three high school years during World War II interned with his family and other Japanese Americans in the Gila River War Relocation Center. Later he earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in zoology all from UCLA and was appointed to the medical school faculty.

In 1964, Terasaki developed the microcytotoxicity test, a tissue-typing test for organ transplant donors and recipients that required only 1 microliter each of antisera used to identify human leukocyte antigens (HLA). The test was adopted as the international standard for tissue typing. He has focused on study of the humoral theory of transplant rejection, which states that antibodies cause allograft rejection. He and his corporation, One Lambda, have played a central role in the development of tissue typing and transplantation surgery.

Terasaki established UCLA's HLA laboratory, and also established the UCLA Kidney Transplant Registry, the largest in the world. In 1999, he retired from UCLA, but within a year resumed his academic pursuits with the creation of the Terasaki Foundation, a research center dedicated to cancer immunotherapy and the study of humoral immunity and transplantation.

On 13 May 2010, UCLA announced the naming of the new life science building for Terasaki, who has given $50 million to the Division of Life Sciences in the UCLA College of Letters and Science, which is the largest ever given to the UCLA College. The structure is known as the Terasaki Life Sciences Building. He was awarded the 2011 UCLA Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year award on 13 April 2012 and the UCLA medal on 15 June 2012.

Paul Terasaki was married to artist Hisako Terasaki; they had four children. He died in Beverly Hills, California at age 86 on 25 January 2016 after a long illness.