Leon Dmochowski (1 July 1909,

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

- 26 August 1981,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

) was a Ukrainian American researcher and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

. A pioneer in the use of

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...

, he was the first to establish the viral nature of cancerous tumors.

Biography

Leon Domochowski was born in 1909 into a

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

priestly family, in the city of

, (Ukraine; at that time Austrian crown land of Galicia). In 1927 he graduated from the Ukrainian Gymnasium for boys in

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

. Between 1928 and 1933 he studied at the Faculty of Medicine at

Lviv University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

, where he gained a bachelor's degree. He moved to Warsaw, Poland, and between 1934 and 1935 he worked as a general practitioner at the Lviv University clinic. From 1935 to 1938, he was a research assistant in the cancer laboratory of the Polish State Institute of Hygiene, Department of Bacteriology and experimental Medicine in Professor Ludwik Hirszfeld's laboratory. In 1937 he received a

Doctorate of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

. After obtaining a one-year traveling fellowship, Dmochowski moved to London in 1938, working at the

Institute of Cancer Research The Institute of Cancer Research (the ICR) is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Mar ...

. During this period he published a number of scientific papers on cancer studies in various medical journals. In 1946 he moved to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, where he worked as a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Experimental Pathology and Cancer Research at the School of Medicine,

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. In 1949 he received a second Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Leeds. In 1951 he moved to the United States, engaging in research in the field of

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

, tumor serology,

virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

, and

endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

. In 1953 he was one of the first to discover the viral origin of malignant tumors. From 1954, he was the head of the Department of Virology and Electron Microscopy at the

MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

, University of Texas, Houston. There, he led a team of experts in major research projects on the link between viruses and cancer. Between 1953 and 1954 Dmochowski was a visiting associate professor of microbiology at the

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

in New York. From 1949 to 1955 he was an adviser to the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...

(UNRRA) In 1971 Dmochowski and his colleagues grew quantities of virus from cells taken from a cancer patient, which at the time, was considered a significant development in the cancer-viruses inquiry. Dmochowski was author and co-author of more than 450 scientific papers in the field of

serology Serology is the scientific study of Serum (blood), serum and other body fluids. In practice, the term usually refers to the medical diagnosis, diagnostic identification of Antibody, antibodies in the serum. Such antibodies are typically formed in r ...

, virology and their relationship with experimental and clinical oncology. A pioneer in the use of electron microscopy in viral oncology, he was the first to discover viruses in leukemia and malignant tumors of the breast of mice. Subsequent experiments have shown the presence of such viruses in humans. He expressed original views and applied methods to study the relationship between viruses and cancer. He authored sections in the books: ''Advances in Cancer Research'' (1953), ''Cancer'' (1957), ''Diseases of Poultry'' (1959; 1969), and ''The Book of Health'' (1963). Most oncology virologists in the world were students of Dr. Dmohovsky or professionally formed under his influence; Japanese scientists of the time almost all improved their knowledge under his leadership. Consultant to the US Cancer Institute and academic and research institutions, honorary member of American and international organizations. He has been honored with numerous awards and honorary academic degrees. Longtime member of the Ukrainian Medical Society of North America and the

Shevchenko Scientific Society The Shevchenko Scientific Society () is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication that was founded in 1873. Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society ...

. He died in Mexico City, while on vacation, and is buried in Memorial Oaks Cemetery, in Houston — his home town.

References

* Melnychuk B. 'Дмоховський Леонтій-Людомир', {{DEFAULTSORT:Dmochowski, Leon Cancer researchers American virologists University of Lviv alumni Ukrainian immunologists American immunologists Columbia University faculty Members of the Shevchenko Scientific Society American people of Ukrainian descent University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center faculty 1909 births 1981 deaths