The Wistar Institute history

After General Wistar had erected a fireproof museum and laboratory building at a cost of $125,000 on grounds presented by the University of Pennsylvania, on September 1, 1893, he created a trust fund of about $130,000 for the support of the Institute.

Constructed in 1894 on land acquired from the Blockley Almshouse, the Wistar Institute has evolved to become a world leader in biomedical research focusing on vaccines, immunology, and the genetic basis of cancer.

In 1897, General Wistar added a new wing to the museum building at a cost of $45,000 affording additional museum and laboratory space and a complete heating and lighting equipment.

A third fund, known as the Contingent Fund, was established by General Wistar on January 2, 1902, the income from the second trust being used for a time to build up this fund.

He established an endowment of more than $1,000,000 for the Institute, which generated an annual income of $30,000, as noted in his September 19, 1905 New York Times obituary.

In 1906, Shinkishi Hatai, Ph.D., (second from left) was the first international scientist to join the Wistar faculty and later became known as the father of Japanese biology.

In the December 1913 inventory, this fund was valued at $226,998.80.

Leonard Hayflick, Ph.D., and Paul S. Moorhead, Ph.D, established the WI-38 cell line of human diploid fibroblasts in 1962.

His vaccine became available in 1969 and gained widespread use in industrialized nations, sending their rubella infection rates into rapid decline.

Later the Wistar’s focus shifted toward biomedical research, and in the decades after World War II, its scientists undertook research in oncology and vaccine development, earning the Wistar’s designation as the country’s first cancer research institute in 1972.

In 1979, Wistar scientists were among the first to develop and license antiviral and anti-tumor cell monoclonal antibodies and Wistar moved to the forefront of monoclonal antibody research.

In 1991, Giovanni Rovera, M.D., succeeded Doctor Koprowski.

In 1994, the Institute celebrated the centennial of the original Victorian research building opening.

First approved in 1995 to prevent raccoon rabies, it is now also used to stop infections in Texas coyotes along the United States border with Mexico.

George E. Thomas and David B. Brownlee, Building America’s First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), 176.

During his tenure, which began in 2002, Russel Kaufman, M.D., embarked on strategic planning and faculty recruitment, and fostered collaborations with regional academic and life sciences industry partners.

In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared rubella eradicated in the United States, crediting Plotkin’s vaccine.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission recognized the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology with a state historic marker in 2007.

Doctor Kaufman guided the Institute through its $35 million capital campaign, “Building Wistar, Changing the World,” which began in 2010 and supported the building of the Fox Tower and has substantially raised Wistar’s endowments.

Doctor Kaufman stepped down as president and CEO in 2015.

Wistarabilia: 125 Years of Research Achievements and Improving Human Health (Philadelphia: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 2017).

Mickey Herr, “Queen of the Rats: How One Female Scientist Colonized the Modern Lab, Hidden City, 16 July 2018, https://hiddencityphila.org/2018/07/queen-of-the-rats-how-one-female-scientist-colonized-the-modern-lab/