Training in organic chemistry
Born in New York, Heidelberger completed his chemistry doctorate at Columbia in 1911 and studied with Richard Willstätter in Zurich. He joined Rockefeller in 1912, initially working on drugs and other organic compounds.
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Pneumococcal polysaccharide antigens
In 1923 Heidelberger and Avery reported that type-specific material in the pneumococcal capsule consisted of polysaccharides. The finding connected antigen chemistry with immune recognition and showed that antigenic specificity was not confined to proteins.
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Quantitative immunochemistry
At Columbia he collaborated with Forrest Kendall, Elvin Kabat and others, using precipitin reactions and quantitative analysis to investigate antigen–antibody binding. After retiring from Columbia in 1954, he continued research at Rutgers and New York University into old age.
References: [1]