[3] Ralph Snyderman was the recipient of the 2012 David E. Rogers Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges which recognized him as "The Father of Personalized Medicine.

[17] He was a 1961 graduate of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland,[18] and received his MD Magna Cum Laude in 1965 from SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

[21][22] There, he had the opportunity to learn how to separate proteins, measure cellular chemotaxis, and make an important biomedical breakthrough early in his career: the discovery of complement factor 5a (C5a) as an immune cell chemotactic agent while the field was still in its infancy.

His laboratory successfully discovered important aspects of the role of the complement system and cytokines in leukocyte migration and innate immunity.

[20] His research into how white blood cells respond to chemical signals to mediate host defense or tissue damage was internationally recognized.

In 1987, Snyderman left Duke to join Genentech, Inc., the pioneering biomedical technology firm, as Senior Vice President for medical research and development.

While at Genentech, he led the development and licensing of major biotechnology therapeutics including Activase, a clot-busting drug made through the novel approach of recombinant DNA technology.