Hans Popper

Hans Popper (24 November 1903 – 6 May 1988) was a pathologist, hepatologist and teacher. Together with Dame Sheila Sherlock, he is widely regarded as the founding father of hepatology.

Early life
Popper was born to Carl and Emilie Popper in Vienna on 24 November 1903. His father was a prominent physician and, as a captain in the medical corps, was called to active army duty at the outbreak of World War I. Hans Popper received a classical education at the Akademische Gymnasium and followed his father's footsteps by entering the Medical School of the University of Vienna in 1922 and graduating in 1928.

Career 
Popper spent his five postgraduate years in anatomical pathology and established a biochemical laboratory, which at the time was a new field of medical research. He worked under the famous Viennese physician Professor Hans Eppinger, under whose influence he developed his interest in hepatology. One of his main achievements of this period was the creatinine clearance test to assess renal function. After Austria's Anschluß to the Third Reich in 1938, Popper (who was Jewish) narrowly escaped arrest by boarding a flight to Rotterdam, where he then boarded the SS New Amsterdam on her maiden voyage to New York. He received a research fellowship at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and earned a PhD in pathology at the University of Illinois. He held a succession of senior positions at this institution, including Director of Pathology. He became Scientific Director for the Hektoen Institute for Medical Research and Professor of Pathology at Northwestern University School of Medicine. He was the driving force behind the founding of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, which first met in 1948. In 1957, he was appointed pathologist-in-chief at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, succeeding Paul Klemperer. There, he was pivotal in the founding of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, becoming its first dean. In 1973, he became the Gustave L. Levy Distinguished Service Professor and maintained this position until his death.

Publications 
Popper authored and co-authored over 800 papers and 28 books, covering all areas of hepatology.

Personal life
Popper's parents managed to avoid Nazi persecution and joined him in Chicago. His father completed an internship and passed the Illinois State Board examination at the age of 77. Popper married a fellow expatriate, Lina Billig, in 1942. They had two sons, Frank J. Popper and Charles. Hans Popper died of pancreatic cancer on 6 May 1988.

Honours 
1928 MD, University of Vienna
1941 MS in Pathology, University of Illinois
1944 PhD in Pathology and Physiology, University of Illinois

Honorary degrees 
1965 MD (Hon), Catholic University of Leuven
1965 PhD (Hon), University of Vienna
1965 MD (Hon), University of Bologna
1974 MD (Hon), Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
1975 MD (Hon), University of Turin
1977 MD (Hon), University of Tübingen
1978 MD (Hon), Catholic University of Seoul
1979 DSc (Hon) The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
1981 MD (Hon), University of Lisbon
1981 DSc (Hon), College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
1981 MD (Hon), University of Münster
1984 MD (Hon), University of Freiburg
1987 MD (Hon), University of Göttingen
1988 MD (Hon), The Humboldt University of Berlin (posthumously)

Awards 
1967 Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1970 Distinguished Lecture Award, American College of Gastroenterology
1970 Charter Member, Alpha Omega Alpha Chapter at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
1971 Julius Friedenwald Medal, American Gastroenterological Association
1974 Distinguished Service Award, International Association for the Study of the Liver
1976 Member, National Academy of Sciences
1976 Honorary Life Member, New York Academy of Sciences
1976 Gold Headed Cane Award, American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists
1976 Member, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina
1983 Distinguished Service Award, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease
1988 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Distinguished Pathologist Award (inaugural recipient)

References

External links 
 http://www.hanspopperhepatopathologysociety.org/index.html
 

Category:Austrian pathologists
Category:American hepatologists
Category:1903 births
Category:1988 deaths
Category:University of Vienna alumni
Category:Physicians from Vienna
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Category:Austrian emigrants to the United States
Category:Austrian Jews
Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Category:American Jews
Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences