It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we notify the hepatitis B community of the passing of Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg. Dr. Blumberg died suddenly on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. His discovery of the hepatitis B virus and invention of the first vaccine against hepatitis B, which resulted in the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1976, have been among the most important in the history of science and medicine. In addition to serving as Senior Advisor to the President of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Dr. Blumberg co-founded the Hepatitis B Foundation and served the Foundation as a Trustee Distinguished Scholar. His ongoing acts of support to the Foundation will always be remembered and admired.
“It has been one of the greatest professional privileges of my life to have known and to have worked with Dr. Blumberg. He was a wonderful mentor to me, and to all of us at the Hepatitis B Foundation, who had the honor of knowing him. His curiosity and enormous intellect was always so motivational. He made it clear to all of us at the Foundation, how one life can do so much to benefit the world. Nothing will be the same without him, but so much has changed because of him. He will always be an example and inspiration for us all.” – Dr. Timothy Block, President of the Hepatitis B Foundation
Please join us in remembering our dear friend, colleague, advocate and champion of the hepatitis B cause, Dr. Blumberg. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Blumberg family.
Baruch S. Blumberg
1925-2011