Ludwik Gross

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Ludwik Gross, 1904–1999

Ludwik Gross (born September 11, 1904 in Krakow , † July 19, 1999 in New York , (NY) ) was a Polish-American cancer researcher and virologist . He became known for his work on tumor viruses.

Life

Gross was born in Krakow, in what was then the crown land of Galicia of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . He came from an upper class, assimilated Jewish family. His parents were both lawyers and his father was a member of parliament for Krakow in the Reichsrat , the parliament of the Austrian half of the empire. Gross studied medicine at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and graduated with a doctorate in 1929. He worked for three years in Krakow at the St. Lazarus Hospital and then went for a research stay for a few years (1932–1939, with interruptions) at the Pasteur Institute in Paris , where he specialized in cancer research. In 1940 he emigrated to the United States because of the increasing danger posed by National Socialism in Europe and initially worked at the hospital in Cincinnati , Ohio . From 1943 to 1945 he served in the US Army Medical Corps . After World War II , he became director of the cancer research division at the Bronx Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in New York. His laboratory initially consisted of just one room. Gradually he built it up into a cancer research unit. 1957-1960 he was visiting scholar at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. In 1971 he received a professorship at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine . Gross died of stomach cancer in 1999 at the age of 94 .

Scientific achievements

The main scientific topic of his life was cancer research and particularly the role of viruses in the development of cancer. In 1951, Gross discovered that leukemia in mice was caused by a transmissible virus, the mouse leukemia virus (MLV). Gross remained convinced that some of the human cancers are also caused by viruses. Because these viruses had not been found for a long time, he was exposed to strong criticism. It was not until the discovery of the Epstein-Barr virus in 1963 and the human retroviruses HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 1980–1982 that the criticism died down.

Awards

Gross received numerous awards for his work:

In 1973 he was admitted to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1977 to the French Legion of Honor .

Web links

Works

  • Ludwik Gross Oncogenic Viruses (2 volumes) Pergamon Press, 1st edition 1961, second edition 1970, third edition 1983 ( ISBN 0-08-026830-7 )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The New York Times: Ludwik Gross, a Trailblazer in Cancer Research, Dies at 94
personal data
SURNAME Gross, Ludwik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-American virologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Krakow
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1999
Place of death New York , (NY) , United States