NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NYU Langone Medical Center announced today President Barack Obama named Jan Vilcek, MD, PhD, professor of microbiology at NYU Langone, and co-inventor of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade®, a recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation. This year 11 individuals will receive this medal, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government upon scientists, engineers, and inventors. He will receive his award from President Obama at a White House ceremony later this year.
The award recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation’s technological workforce. Nominees are selected by a distinguished independent committee representing the private and public sectors. Dr. Vilcek is being recognized for his pioneering work on interferons and monoclonal antibodies.
“We congratulate Jan on receiving this noble recognition,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO, NYU Langone Medical Center. “He is a remarkable scientist whose contributions to science and medicine have touched the lives of so many across the globe, and we are extremely privileged that he is part of the NYU Langone family.”
Dr. Vilcek joined NYU Langone at the age of 31 as an assistant professor of microbiology. He devoted his entire career to the study of a group of natural regulators of the immune system called cytokines. Dr. Vilcek devoted much of his career to the study of interferons, making contributions to the understanding of their nature and helping develop their clinical applications. In the 1980's, Dr. Vilcek and his colleague, Junming Le, PhD, adjunct associate professor of microbiology at NYU Langone, generated an artificial antibody to one type of cytokine that, in close collaboration with the biotechnology company Centocor (now part of Johnson & Johnson, and recently renamed Janssen Biotech), they then developed into a drug that has become known as infliximab or Remicade®. Remicade® has since become approved for the treatment of Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. It is estimated that to date over two million patients have been treated with Remicade® in the United States and abroad.
Using funds due to him for his role in the development of Remicade®, Dr. Vilcek and his wife Marica F. Vilcek have generously given more than $120 million to NYU Langone Medical Center to fund scholarships, research, and the new medical student residence hall at NYU School of Medicine. Their ongoing support is an outward display of their deep gratitude for the many opportunities the medical center has provided Dr. Vilcek as his intellectual home.
In addition to their support of NYU Langone, Dr. Vilcek and his wife also established The Vilcek Foundation in 2000 to honor and publicize the enormous contributions immigrants have made to biomedical science and the arts in the United States. The Foundation's mission, where Mrs. Vilcek serves as Vice President and Cofounder, derives in large part from Mrs. Vilcek's interest and professional work in the arts and as an Art Historian.
Dr. Vilcek, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, received his medical degree from the Comenius University Medical School in Bratislava in 1957, and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Virology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, also based in Bratislava, in 1962. The success of Remicade® has spurred the development of other anti-TNF agents that are being used to treat a variety of inflammatory conditions.
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office. By highlighting the national importance of technological innovation, the medal is also meant to inspire future generations of Americans to prepare for and pursue technical careers to keep America at the forefront of global technology and economic leadership.
“I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators,” President Obama said in a statement released by the White House. “They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this Nation great—and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment.”
About NYU Langone Medical Center:
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one on the nation’s premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals – Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the world’s first university-affiliated facility devoted entirely to rehabilitation medicine; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the nation dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; and Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children’s health services across the Medical Center – plus the NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center’s tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to www.NYULMC.org.