- Jan Vilcek
Jan T. Vilcek M.D., Ph.D. (born
June 17 ,1933 ) is a professor in the Department ofMicrobiology at theNYU School of Medicine .Dr. Vilcek, a native of
Bratislava ,Slovakia , received his M.D. degree fromComenius University Medical School, Bratislava,Czechoslovakia in 1957; and his Ph.D. inVirology from the Institute of Virology, Czechoslovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia 1962.In 1965, he joined the faculty of NYU School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology, and has been a member of the NYU School of Medicine faculty for over 40 years. Dr. Vilcek devoted his scientific career to studies of soluble mediators (
cytokines ) that regulate theimmune system , includinginterferon and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).In 1989 Dr. Vilcek and colleague, Junming Le, Ph.D, created a
monoclonal antibody against TNF alpha, a powerful promoter of inflammation. TNF-alpha is involved in thepathogenesis of numerousautoimmune disease s. Collaborating with thebiotechnology companyCentocor , Vilcek and Le helped to develop thebiologic drug initially termed CA2, which is now known commercially asRemicade . Remicade is a potentanti-inflammatory agent used in the treatment ofrheumatoid arthritis ,Crohn’s disease ,ulcerative colitis ,ankylosing spondylitis ,psoriatic arthritis , proriasis and some otherinflammatory disease s.The success of Remicade encouraged the development of numerous other anti-TNF agents, two of which have been commercially approved (
Humira andEnbrel ), all of which are being used to treat numerousimmune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID s).In 2000, Dr. Vilcek and his wife Marica established
the Vilcek Foundation , devoted to increasing public awareness of the contribution of immigrants to professional, academic and artistic life in the United States. In 2005, Dr. Vilcek made a donation to NYU valued at over 100 million dollars.References
* [http://www.med.nyu.edu/communications/news/pr_118.html www.med.nyu.edu]
* [http://www.imid.us Immune Mediated Inflammatory Disease: Pioneers]
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