![[Koprowski Picture]](Koprowski_05.JPG)
Hilary Koprowski
Microbiologist, medical scientist, educator
Born Warsaw, Poland; came to U.S., 1944; son of Pawel and Sarah (Berland); married Irena (Grasberg); children: Claude Eugene, Christian Dorian.
Education: Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), University of Warsaw (Poland), 1939; graduate, Warsaw Music Conservatory, and Santa Cecilia Academy, Rome (Italy); Doctor of Science (honorary), Ludwig - Maximilian University, Munich (Germany), 1975, Widener College, Chester (PA), 1979; Doctor of Medicine and Surgery (honorary), University of Helsinki (Finland), 1981; Doctor of Medicine (honoris causa), University of Uppsala (Sweden) 1983; Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.), T. Jefferson University, Philadelphia (PA), 1986; Doctor of Medical Sciences (D.M.S.), Lublin Medical Academy (Poland), 1989.
Career: research assistant, Experimental and General Pathology Department, University of Warsaw, 1936-39; staff member, Yellow Fever Research Service, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 1940-44; staff research division, American Cyanamid Company, 1944-46, assistant director (viral and rickettsial research), Lederle Laboratories, 1946-57, Pearl River (NY); prof. and director, Wistar Institute, 1957, Philadelphia; prof. (microbiology), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 1957 -, prof. (microbiology and immunology), Center for Neurovirology, T. Jefferson University, 1992 -, Philadelphia; consultant, World Health Organization, 1950 -.
Author: editor, various professional journals, since 1955; co-editor, Methods in Virology, Viruses and Immunity, Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 1965 -.
Member, i.a.: microbiology study section member, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 1956-60; advisory committee member, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 1970-78; immunology advisory committee, National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States Public Health Servive (USPHS), 1975-76; board member, Science Counselors Division, Cancer Etiology, National Cancer Institute, 1982-86 (chairman, 1987-90); fellow, New York Academy of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Physicians; PAHO; Yugoslavian Academy of Science; Polish Academy of Science; Russian Academy of Medical Science; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); National Academy of Sciences; New York Academy of Sciences (president, 1959, trustee, 1960-72).
Honors, i.a.: Commandeur Ordre du Merite pour la Recherche et l'Invention; Chevalier Ordre Royal de Lion Belgium; Alvarenga Prize, College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 1959; Polish Millennium Prize, A. Jurzykowski Foundation, 1966; scholarship, Fulbright Foundation, 1971; Felix Wankel Tierschutz Prize, 1979; Alexander von Humboldt Senior United States Scientist Award; cancer research award, Philadelphia Cancer Club, 1989; N. Copemicus Medal, Polish Academy of Science (Poland), 1989; John Scott Award, 1990.
Languages: Polish, English, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish.
Hobbies: reading, playing piano, scuba diving.
Home: 334 Fairhill Road, Wynnewood, PA 190096.
From: "Who's Who in Polish America" 1st Edition 1996-1997, Boleslaw Wierzbianski editor; Bicentennial Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, 1996
Hilary Koprowski, M.D.
(born: 1916)
Discoverer of Polio Vaccine
A native of Poland, Hilary Koprowski, M.D. is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at Warsaw University. He also holds degrees from Warsaw Conservatory and Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome.
Hilary Koprowski is the discoverer of the first vaccine against poliomyelitis, which was based on oral administration of attenuated poliovirus. His work on polio started in 1947 and the attenuated poliovirus was fed to the first child on February 27,1950. During the ensuing ten years, the oral polio vaccine, developed originally by Hilary Koprowski, was used extensively for immunization against poliomyelitis on four continents. His vaccine was first used for mass immunization trials against poliomyelitis, which took place in Zaire (then the Belgian Congo) where 250,000 children were immunized orally within six weeks. At the same time, nine million children in Poland received the vaccine preventing paralytic poliomyelitis outbreaks. Today, the Western Hemisphere has been declared free of paralytic polio and the eradication of polio in the world is within sight. The pioneering work of Hilary Koprowski has made this possible.
Koprowski arrived at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia in 1957 and served as its director for thirty-five years. Dr. Koprowskis longtime interest in rabies led to the development of a new type of vaccine for both humans and animals. He has also done pioneering work in the development of monoclonal antibodies, which are effectively used for the detection of cancer antigens and immunotherapy of cancer. In the years 1978-1980, Koprowski and his associates developed the first functional monoclonal antibody against colorectal cancer antigen and rabies.
In 1978, a new human rabies vaccine based on tissue culture was developed by Koprowski and the late Tad Wiktor. In the past decade, Koprowski directed his efforts towards the development of biomedical products in plants. He succeeded in producing a rabies vaccine in spinach and complete antibodies directed against rabies and cancer antigen in tobacco. Through cooperation with Polish scientists, it has been possible to conduct successful clinical trials with a Hepatitis B vaccine in lettuce.
Dr. Koprowski has received honorary degrees from numerous universities. Heisa member of the National Academy of Sciences as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which in 1959 presented him with its Alvarenga Prize. He serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. He holds foreign membership in the Yugoslav Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, and the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters. Koprowski is the holder of the Order of the Lion of Finland, the French Legion D'Honneur Award, the Great Order of Merit presented to him by the President of Poland.
Dr. Koprowski is the author or co-author of over 890 articles in scientific publications and is co-editor of several journals. Currently, he is President of the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Inc. and Head of the Center for Neurovirology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
From: "400 Years of Polish Immigrants in America 1608-2008" edited by: Mariusz M. Brymora, Washington D.C., 2008