Dr. Sell is a board certified pathologist and immunologist. He began research in 1957 while a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh, in the Department of Pathology, under Frank J. Dixon. After a pathology residency at Massachusetts Hospital, and post doctoral fellowships at NIH and Birmingham England he returned to the University of Pittsburgh for 5 years before moving to the University of California at San Diego. After 12 years at UCSD, Dr. Sell took the position as Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas (UT) at Houston before moving to Albany Medical College. As of February 2003 he has been a senior scientist at Wadsworth Center, a Professor at University at Albany School of Public Health and an Adjunct Professor at Albany College of Pharmacy. Dr. Sell received the Rudolph L. K. Virchow Award of the Italian Medical Magazine LeadershipMedica.com for his concept of cancer stem cells; he was named Legacy Laureate of the University of Pittsburgh for his work on alpha-fetoprotein as a marker for liver cancer; and in 2007 received the Abbott Award of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine for recognizing the role of stem cells in carcinogenesis. He has published over 400 papers and 12 books, including 6 editions of Immunology, Immunopathology and Immunity. His paper with Barry Pierce (Lab. Invest. 70:6-21, 1994.) was selected as an AACR scientific landmark.