Werner Henle

Werner Henle (born August 27, 1910 in Dortmund ; died July 6, 1987 in Bryn Mawr , Pennsylvania ) was a German virologist .

Life

Werner Henle was a son of the surgeon Adolf Henle and the grandson of Jakob Henle . His siblings Annemarie Henle Pope and Fritz Henle also had to flee Germany from racist persecution. He studied medicine and did his doctorate in Heidelberg. There he met his wife Gertrude Szpingier , who also had a doctorate in medicine. Both emigrated to the USA in 1936 and married in 1937. The marriage remained childless.

Henle worked at the University of Pennsylvania from 1936 and at the same time at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 1939 . Together with his wife, Henle was able to make some fundamental discoveries in the field of virus diagnostics. In the 1960s, for example, they were able to show a connection between the Epstein-Barr virus and Burkitt's lymphoma . Together with Dr. Joseph Stokes Jr. they showed the effectiveness of gamma globulins against hepatitis infections. Eventually, they worked successfully in the field of rapid diagnosis for mumps . In 1982 the couple retired from the university, but continued their research at the children's hospital.

In 1962/1963 Werner Henle served as President of the American Association of Immunologists . He received for his work, among others in 1971 together with his wife the Robert Koch Prize , in 1975 the William B. Coley Award and in 1979 the then 25,000 dollars doped Bristol-Myers Squibb Award . Also in 1979 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina . Since 1975 he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences .

Fonts

• with Vincent Groupé, Gertrude Henle and others: The viruses of human epidemic influenza and related problems , Philadelphia 1944.
• with Joseph Zellat: Protection against influenza virus by passive means and by an aerosol , Philadelphia 1941.

literature

• Reinhard Rürup: Fates and Careers: Commemorative book for the researchers expelled from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society by the National Socialists . With the participation of Michael Schüring. With an escort of the President of the Max Planck Society. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2008 ISBN 978-3-89244-797-9 , pp. 218-220
• Henle, Werner , in: Werner Röder; Herbert A. Strauss (Ed.): International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933-1945 . Volume 2.2. Munich: Saur, 1983 ISBN 3-598-10089-2 , p. 489

Web links

• Dr. Werner Henle, Virological Pioneer in Cancer Research . In: The New York Times . July 8, 1987, p. 23 ( nytimes.com - obituary).