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NIH Honors Hilary Koprowski -- 50 years of Continuous NIH Research Funding*

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Koprowski for his many important scientific contributions to biomedical research and NIH.

A profoundly successful grantee, Dr. Hilary Koprowski's support goes so far back in time it predates our modern databases. This year, he celebrates 50 years of continuous NIH funding for research that spans the spectrum from rabies to polio and cancer.

Dr. Koprowski’s pioneering research in polio and rabies has significantly advanced vaccine research. His research in the late 1940s resulted in the first oral polio vaccine that was used extensively to immunize people on four continents. In the late 1970s, a passionate interest in rabies led Dr. Koprowski to develop a new tissue culture-based vaccine.

His scientific interests didn't stop there. Dr. Koprowski pioneered the development of monoclonal antibodies used to detect cancer antigens and for cancer immunotherapy, and he successfully used plants to produce vaccines and antibodies.

A recipient of countless honorary degrees and foreign decorations, Dr. Koprowski began his medical training at the University of Warsaw, Poland.
He has held positions on many committees for diverse scientific organizations and has been a member of several NIH boards of scientific counselors. Dr. Koprowski is currently president of the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Inc. and head of the Center for Neurovirology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA.

We honor this remarkable achievement and wish Dr. Koprowski many more successes in the years to come.

*From May 16, 2006 NIAID funding news (www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/newsletters/2006/0516.htm#n02).