Rob was an exceptional immunologist and his research group made seminal contributions to a broad spectrum of topics in T cell biology. His more than 500 publications, 35,000 citations and h-index of 102 were central in making the Lausanne LICR internationally recognized.
Rob’s contributions to immunology were broad, but generally focused on T cell biology. Beginning with the thymus, his laboratory identified and quantified the development of functional subpopulations of T cells and their blood-borne stem cell precursors. He defined subsets of early developing thymocytes based on the expression of CD25. In 1987, he identified CD44 as a marker of memory T cells, which has remained one of the best memory markers to this day. In the same year, he identified natural killer T cells for the first time. His group’s research showed that these cells develop intra-thymically by alternative selection processes.