PHILADELPHIA, Penn. -- Giovanni Rovera, M.D., Director and CEO, and the Board of Managers announce the establishment of the Hilary Koprowski Endowed Professorship at The Wistar Institute. Funding for the chair, which is Wistar's first, was provided by The Wistar Science Trust Fund, created in 1990 by Dr. Koprowsi for the benefit of Wistar research, and The Wistar Institute.
"The Hilary Koprowski Endowed Professorship is designed to support an eminent scientist who brings luster to the Institute," explained Dr. Koprowski, Professor Laureate of The Wistar Institute and Wistar Professor of Research Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Hilary Koprowski Institute Professor may be a current member of Wistar's faculty or a new recruit. Selection of the first chair holder will be made by Dr. Rovera, Barry Cooperman, Ph.D., Co-Chair with Dr. Koprowski of Wistar's Scientific Advisory Committee, and Dr. Koprowski.
"The Hilary Koprowski Endowed Professorship will hopefully provide long-term support for distinguished scientists and set a precedent for the establishment of additional endowed professorships at Wistar," said Dr. Rovera. Roughly 50 percent of Wistar's support comes from the federal government, and 20 percent from charitable donations.
Dr. Koprowski, for whom the professorship is named, served as Wistar's Director from 1957 until 1991. Under his leadership, the Institute evolved into a world-renowned medical research facility. In 1997, Dr. Koprowski was awarded the Chevalier Légion d'Honneur for a career distinguished by outstanding scientific achievement.
The Wistar Institute, established in 1892, was the first independent medical research facility in the country. For more than 100 years, Wistar scientists have been making history and improving world health through their development of vaccines for diseases that include rabies, German measles, infantile gastroenteritis (rotavirus), and cytomegalovirus; discovery of molecules like interleukin-12, which are helping the immune system fight bacteria, parasites, viruses and cancer; and discovery of genes that contribute to the development of diseases like leukemia, lymphoma, and breast, lung and prostate cancer. Wistar is a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center.