Long before translational research was all the rage, Harald charged a segment of his lab with investigating how fundamental immunological principles might influence the onset of autoimmunity and tumor-specific immune responses. Early on he saw that breaking tolerance could result in an attack on healthy tissue or a tumor, and that suppressing the former and inducing the latter would require the study of two sides of a single coin.

Over the course of his scientific career Harald worked in or ran labs in four countries on three continents. After earning his M.D. from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Harald moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he obtained his Ph.D. under the supervision of Ken Shortman. During these early years he characterized the functions of the various cell types in the mixed-lymphocyte reaction, an assay essential for the understanding of donor–recipient compatibility in transplantation.

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