Wistar Institute
Philadelphia, United States of America
Connections Hilary Koprowski
America's first non-profit independent research institution, the Wistar Institute played an important role in the development of monoclonal antibodies and is today renowned for its cancer research and vaccine development.

The roots of the Wistar Institute go back to work of the physician Caspar Wistar, who from the early late 18th century started building up a collection of anatomical human specimens at the University of Philadelphia for teaching purposes and anatomical research. After Wistar's death the physicians William Edmonds Horner and Joseph Leidy continued to add to this collection. During the late 1880s a campaign was mounted to transfer the collection to new premises with the aim of creating an institution to further research in the biological and medical sciences. The Wistar Institute officially opened in 1892, supported by funds from Colonel Isaac Wistar, the great nephew of Caspar Wistar. It was the first independent medical research institute established in the United States.In 1906 the Wistar developed and bred the Wistar rat, the first standardised laboratory animal. Over half of all laboratory rats in use today are thought to descend from this breed. By 1925 the Institute had built a sold reputation in biology and was recognised internationally as a training ground for young scientists. From the 1950s, under the leadership of the Polish virologist Hilary Koprowski, the Wistar Institute started to gain international recognition for its vaccine development and cancer research. In 1979 the Wistar gained worldwide attention for the fact that its scientists had been granted the first patent on monoclonal antibodies, a technology that would be at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution. Today the Wistar Institute has more than 29 laboratories grouped around three research areas: gene expression and regulation, immunology and molecular and cellular oncogenesis. Multi-disciplinary in its approach, the focus of the Institute is to investigate all types of cancers as well as viral and autoimmune diseases.
Wistar Institute: timeline of key events
Date | Event | People | Places |
---|---|---|---|
13 Sep 1761 | Caspar Wistar was born in Philadelphia | Wistar Institute | |
1783 | Caspar Wistar received his Batchelor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania | Wistar Institute | |
1786 | Caspar Wistar received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Edinburgh | Wistar Institute | |
1787 | Caspar Wistar appointed physician to the Philadelphia Dispensary, elected to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and to the American Philosophical Society | Wistar Institute | |
1793 | Caspar Wistar became staff member of the Pennsylvania Hospital and elected curator of the American Philosophical Society | Wistar Institute | |
1808 | Caspar Wistar appointed sole professor of anatomy, midwifery and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania | Wistar Institute | |
1811 - 1814 | Caspar Wistar published his two volumes of 'A System of Anatomy for the Use of Students of Medicine', the first American anatomy textbook | Wistar Institute | |
22 Jan 1818 | Caspar Wistar died | Wistar Institute | |
1892 | Establishment of the Wistar Institute | Wistar Institute | |
1894 | Opening of new building for the Wistar Institute designed to house its museum of anatonmical models and foster research | Wistar Institute | |
1905 | Research made the principle objective of the Wistar Institute | Wistar Institute | |
1906 | Creation of the first standardised animal model for research - the WistarRat | Wistar Institute | |
5 Dec 1916 | Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw, Poland | Koprowski | Lederle Laboratories, Wistar Institute |
1932 | Stanley Plotkin born in New York City, USA | Plotkin | Wistar Institute |
23 Mar 1937 | Norman Klinman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA | Klinman | Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania |
1952 | Stanley Plotkin graduated from New York University | Plotkin | Wistar Institute |
1957 | Hilary Koprowski appointed fifth director of the Wistar Institute | Koprowski | Wistar Institute |
1957 | Stanley Plotkin assigned to work temporarily at Wistar Institute by CDC of US Public Health Service | Plotkin | Wistar Institute |
December 1961 | Normal cell population discovered to only be able to divide a limited number of times before it stops | Hayflick | Wistar Institute |
1962 | WI-38 cell line developed - important to development of vaccines | Hayflick, Moorhead | Wistar Institute |
1969 | Splenic fragment technique devised for growing antibodies | Klinman | Wistar Institute |
1969 - 1970 | First license approved in US and Europe for vaccine against rubella (German measles) | Plotkin | Wistar Institute |
1972 | Wistar Instute named National Cancer Institute - first research institution to gain such a title | Wistar Institute | |
1975 | Short-lasting antibodies against influenza virus devised | Gerhard | Wistar Institute |
September 1976 | Cesar Milstein supplies myeloma cells to Hilary Koprowski at the Wistar Institute for producing monoclonal antibodies | Koprowski, Milstein | Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Wistar Institute |
June 1977 | First US patent application filed for monoclonal antibodies | Croce, Koprowski, Milstein | Wistar Institute |
May 1979 | Centocor founded | Koprowski, Schoemaker, Wall | Wistar Institute |
October 1979 | First US patent for monoclonal antibodies granted | Koprowski, Milstein | Wistar Institute |
1980 | US licensed first rabies vaccine for human use | Koprowski, Plotkin, Wiktor | Wistar Institute |
December 1980 | Clinical tials begin with a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer | Koprowski | Wistar Institute |
September 1989 | Giorgio Trinchieri and colleagues identified interleukin-12 (IL-12), a cytokine that helps regulate the body’s resistance to infections and cancer | Kobayashi, Fitz, Ryan, Hewick, Clark, Chan, Loudon, Sherman, Perussia, Trinchieri | Wistar Institute |
February 1992 | Monoclonal antibodies market crashed following FDA's call for more information for Centocor's drug, Centoxin | Schoemaker, Koprowski, Milstein | Centocor, Wistar |
1993 | Wistar Institute patented Bcl-2, the first of a family of genes associated with different types of cancer | Wistar Institute | |
1995 | First monoclonal antibody therapeutic for cancer approved for market | Koprowski | Wistar Institute, Centocor |
1995 | US licensed first wildlife rabies vaccine | Wistar Institute | |
March 2001 | Mechanism uncovered for the way the immune system generates regulatory T-cells | Jordan | Wistar Institute |
April 2002 | Identification of new enzyme for silencing certain genes, opening new avenues for cancer treatments | Rauscher | Wistar Institute |
7 Aug 2002 | Scientists identified segment of insect-derived antimicrobial peptide called pyrrhocoricin necessary for killing off bacteria opening up possible avenue for developing new antibiotics | Otvos | Wistar Institute |
20 Aug 2002 | Link identified between genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, a common neurological disorder, and a protein thought to play role in Alzheimer's disease | Shiekhattar | Wistar Institute |
14 Sep 2002 | Regulatory T cells discovered to restrain cytolytic T cells attacking cancer via messanger chemical called TGF-beta | Herlyn, Somasundaram | Wistar Institute |
April 2004 | US FDA approved new imaging agent for detecting difficult to diagnose cases of appendicitis | Wistar Institute, Palatin Technologies | |
May 2004 | Study published demonstrating feasibility of using insect-derived antimicrobial peptice as drug-delivery vehicle | Otvos | Wistar Institute |
February 2005 | Enzyme Ubp10 demonstrated to protect the genome from potential destabilising molecular events | Berger, Emre | Wistar Institute |
2006 | Vaccine approved for preventing rotavirus, a major kiler of children | Plotkin, Clark, Offit | Wistar Institute |
15 Nov 2006 | New enzyme identified as suppressor of p53 protein, a key molecule for controlling cancer in humans | Berger | Wistar Institute, Vienna Biocenter |
13 Nov 2007 | Inappropriate activation of telomerase, an enzyme, shown to be associated with uncontrollable proliferation of cells seen in human cancers | Skordalakes | Wistar Institute |
2008 | Structure of telomerase, an enzyme that conserves the ends of chomosomes, was decoded | Wistar Institute | |
31 Jan 2008 | New vaccine delivery system unveiled for preventing viral diseases | Ertl | Wistar Institute |
4 May 2010 | Norman Klinman died in San Diego, California, USA | Klinman | Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania |
11 Apr 2013 | Hilary Koprowski died | Koprowski | Lederle Laboratories, Wistar Institute |
23 Jun 2016 | FDA approved first clinical trial for zika virus vaccine | Weiner | Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, GeneOne Life Science, Public Health Agency of Canada |
August 2016 | Marker identified for myeloid-derived suppressor cells, a type of cell associated with tumour resistance to certain cancer treatments | Wistar Institute | |
13 Sep 1761
Caspar Wistar was born in Philadelphia
1783
Caspar Wistar received his Batchelor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania
1786
Caspar Wistar received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Edinburgh
1787
Caspar Wistar appointed physician to the Philadelphia Dispensary, elected to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and to the American Philosophical Society
1793
Caspar Wistar became staff member of the Pennsylvania Hospital and elected curator of the American Philosophical Society
1808
Caspar Wistar appointed sole professor of anatomy, midwifery and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania
1811 - 1814
Caspar Wistar published his two volumes of 'A System of Anatomy for the Use of Students of Medicine', the first American anatomy textbook
22 Jan 1818
Caspar Wistar died
1892
Establishment of the Wistar Institute
1894
Opening of new building for the Wistar Institute designed to house its museum of anatonmical models and foster research
1905
Research made the principle objective of the Wistar Institute
1906
Creation of the first standardised animal model for research - the WistarRat
5 Dec 1916
Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw, Poland
1932
Stanley Plotkin born in New York City, USA
23 Mar 1937
Norman Klinman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1952
Stanley Plotkin graduated from New York University
1957
Hilary Koprowski appointed fifth director of the Wistar Institute
1957
Stanley Plotkin assigned to work temporarily at Wistar Institute by CDC of US Public Health Service
Dec 1961
Normal cell population discovered to only be able to divide a limited number of times before it stops
1962
WI-38 cell line developed - important to development of vaccines
1969
Splenic fragment technique devised for growing antibodies
1969 - 1970
First license approved in US and Europe for vaccine against rubella (German measles)
1972
Wistar Instute named National Cancer Institute - first research institution to gain such a title
1975
Short-lasting antibodies against influenza virus devised
Sep 1976
Cesar Milstein supplies myeloma cells to Hilary Koprowski at the Wistar Institute for producing monoclonal antibodies
Jun 1977
First US patent application filed for monoclonal antibodies
May 1979
Centocor founded
Oct 1979
First US patent for monoclonal antibodies granted
1980
US licensed first rabies vaccine for human use
Dec 1980
Clinical tials begin with a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer
Sep 1989
Giorgio Trinchieri and colleagues identified interleukin-12 (IL-12), a cytokine that helps regulate the body’s resistance to infections and cancer
Feb 1992
Monoclonal antibodies market crashed following FDA's call for more information for Centocor's drug, Centoxin
1993
Wistar Institute patented Bcl-2, the first of a family of genes associated with different types of cancer
1995
First monoclonal antibody therapeutic for cancer approved for market
1995
US licensed first wildlife rabies vaccine
Mar 2001
Mechanism uncovered for the way the immune system generates regulatory T-cells
Apr 2002
Identification of new enzyme for silencing certain genes, opening new avenues for cancer treatments
7 Aug 2002
Scientists identified segment of insect-derived antimicrobial peptide called pyrrhocoricin necessary for killing off bacteria opening up possible avenue for developing new antibiotics
20 Aug 2002
Link identified between genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, a common neurological disorder, and a protein thought to play role in Alzheimer's disease
14 Sep 2002
Regulatory T cells discovered to restrain cytolytic T cells attacking cancer via messanger chemical called TGF-beta
Apr 2004
US FDA approved new imaging agent for detecting difficult to diagnose cases of appendicitis
May 2004
Study published demonstrating feasibility of using insect-derived antimicrobial peptice as drug-delivery vehicle
Feb 2005
Enzyme Ubp10 demonstrated to protect the genome from potential destabilising molecular events
2006
Vaccine approved for preventing rotavirus, a major kiler of children
15 Nov 2006
New enzyme identified as suppressor of p53 protein, a key molecule for controlling cancer in humans
13 Nov 2007
Inappropriate activation of telomerase, an enzyme, shown to be associated with uncontrollable proliferation of cells seen in human cancers
2008
Structure of telomerase, an enzyme that conserves the ends of chomosomes, was decoded
31 Jan 2008
New vaccine delivery system unveiled for preventing viral diseases
4 May 2010
Norman Klinman died in San Diego, California, USA
11 Apr 2013
Hilary Koprowski died
23 Jun 2016
FDA approved first clinical trial for zika virus vaccine
Aug 2016
Marker identified for myeloid-derived suppressor cells, a type of cell associated with tumour resistance to certain cancer treatments
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