The Koprowski Science and Technology Park to be Dedicated on September 4, 2008

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Hilary Koprowski, M.D., one of the world’s outstanding biomedical researchers over the last half-century, will be honored by his native country, Poland, with the renaming of a major science and technology park in his honor.  The multimillion dollar Gdansk Science and Technology Park, located in the north/central part of the country, will officially open and be renamed the Hilary Koprowski Science and Technology Park during a ceremony on September 4, 2008.

“Dr. Koprowski is a world-renowned virologist and immunologist whose dedicated research has left an indelible mark on humanity,” said Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, professor and chair, Department of Cancer Biology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. “It is befitting that a scientist of his stature has a park, dedicated to new science and technology, named after him.”

Dr. Koprowski is a professor of Cancer Biology at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, and director of both the Center for Neurovirology and the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. 

Dr. Koprowski’s ground-breaking work in polio and rabies greatly advanced vaccine research.  In the late 1940s, his efforts resulted in production of the first oral polio vaccine that was used extensively to immunize people on four continents.  In the 1970s, his passionate interest in rabies led him to develop a new tissue culture-based vaccine that is more effective and less painful than the traditional Pasteur technique.

He has pioneered the development of monoclonal antibodies, which are used to detect cancer antigens and in cancer immunotherapy.  And he has successfully used plants to produce vaccines and antibodies.  Dr. Koprowski and his associates developed the first functional monoclonal antibody against colorectal cancer antigen and rabies.  The monoclonal antibody recognizing antigen of colorectal cancer is used throughout the world for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by detection of the antigen in blood.

A native of Warsaw, Poland, Dr. Koprowski received his M.D. degree from the University of Warsaw in 1939 while simultaneously studying piano at the Warsaw Conservatory of music.  In 1940 he graduated from the Royal Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, a world renowned institute for the study of music.  He moved to Brazil and then soon relocated to the United States, where he eventually became the Director of the Wistar Institute of Philadelphia in 1957 and led it for 35 years.  At Wistar he recruited top biologists from throughout the world and is credited with a major revival of the institute.

Dr. Koprowski is the author of more than 850 scientific papers and is a member of many of the world’s most prestigious scientific societies.  He has also received honorary degrees from numerous universities, and is the recipient of many honors, including the Philadelphia Award, the Scott Award and the French Legion of Honor.  Dr. Koprowski is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He was both a Fulbright Scholar and a Rockefeller University Fellow. He has been a continuous grantee of the National Institutes of Health for more than 50 years.

About the Koprowski Science and Technology Park
The Koprowski Science and Technology Park (KSTP) is a joint venture by the Pomeranian Special Economic Zone Ltd, the Local Government of the Pomeranian Region, the city of Gdansk and the Gdansk University of Technology.  It is a place where science merges with innovative economics and entrepreneurship in the broad sense of the word.  The mission of the park is to create the best environment for the development of newly established small-and medium-sized high-tech enterprises, which base their market success on know-how; ensure an optimum location for companies, research and development organizations and relevant counseling and financial services; and to facilitate the establishment of contacts and collaboration between scientists, modern industry leaders and high-tech companies.