Courtesy of NASA

Baruch Blumberg b. 1925

Baruch Blumberg discovered the Hepatitis B virus in 1967, and later he helped develop both the blood test used to detect the virus and the first vaccine to prevent it. He won the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries regarding the dissemination of infectious diseases, and he continues to be a leading figure in the field of hepatitis research. He is a charter member of the Hepatitis B Foundation Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Blumberg has been affiliated with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia since 1964, and has taught medicine and anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania since 1977.