| Irena Koprowska (née Grasberg) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1917-05-12)12 May 1917 Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland |
| Died | 16 August 2012(2012-08-16) (aged 95) Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Citizenship | Poland, United States |
| Known for | Leader in the field of Cytopathology |
| Spouse | Hilary Koprowski (m. 1938; 2 children) |
| Awards | Papanikolaou Award(1985) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cytopathology |
Irena Koprowska, née Grasberg (May 12, 1917, Warsaw - August 16, 2012, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania) was a Polish-born pathologist in the United States. In 1985, she won the Papanikolaou Award.
She was the first woman to be named a full professor at Hahnemann Medical College, now Drexel University College of Medicine.
Life
Koprowska was born in 1917 to Eugenia and Henryk Grasberg, the latter of which owned a flour mill in Warsaw, Poland. Growing up, she (like her father) did not identify as Jewish or Catholic, but instead as atheist.
She graduated from Warsaw University Medical School, in 1939. Around this time, Grasberg married Hilary Koprowski, a virologist who discovered the first effective oral polio vaccine. But she and Hilary, a Jewish man, were forced to flee Poland as the Nazi army began its invasion of Warsaw.
She worked as a pathologist in Rio de Janeiro. She studied with Georgios Papanikolaou, at Cornell University Medical College. From 1970 to 1987, she was a professor at Temple University School of Medicine .
Koprowska was mentored by Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou the inventor of the "Pap smear", and went on to become a leader in the field of cytopathology. Dr. Koprowska was a founding member of the Inter Society Council of Cytology, which became the American Society of Cytopathology. Additionally, she co-authored, with Dr. George Papanicolaou, a case report of the earliest diagnosis of lung cancer by a sputum smear.
Grasberg married Hilary Koprowski, a virologist who discovered the first effective oral polio vaccine.
References
- ^ "Irena G. Koprowska". 2014-07-14. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ "Dr. Irena Koprowska - Changing the Face of Medicine". NLM NIH.
- Howell, Lydia Pleotis (2012-12-25). "Remembering my mentor, Dr. Irena Koprowska". Cancer Cytopathology. 120 (6): 417–418. doi:10.1002/cncy.21250001. ISSN 1934-662X.
- Koprowska, Irena (1997). A Woman Wanders Through Life And Science. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-3178-8.
- Pleiotis Howell, Lydia (December 2012). "Remembering My Mentor, Dr. Irena Koprowska". Cancer Cytopathology. 120 (6): 417–418. doi:10.1002/cncy.21250001. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- Koprowska I (1998). A Woman Wanders Through Life and Science. SUNY press. ISBN 9780791431771.
- Koprowska, I, A Woman Wanders Through Life and Science, SUNY series, Voices of Immigrant Women, SUNY press 1998
- Pleotis Howell, Lydia (2012). "Remembering My Mentor, Dr. Irena Koprowska". Cancer Cytopathology. 120 (6). Wiley: 417–418. doi:10.1002/cncy.21250001. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
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