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Jan Vilcek

Jan T. Vilcek M.D., Ph.D. (born June 17, 1933) is a professor in the Department of Microbiology at the NYU School of Medicine.

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Dr. Vilcek, a native of Bratislava, Slovakia, received his M.D. degree from Comenius University Medical School, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in 1957; and his Ph.D. in Virology from the Institute of Virology, Czechoslovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia 1962.

In 1965, he joined the faculty of NYU School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology, and has been a member of the NYU School of Medicine faculty for over 40 years. Dr. Vilcek devoted his scientific career to studies of soluble mediators (cytokines) that regulate the immune system, including interferon and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

In 1989 Dr. Vilcek and colleague, Junming Le, Ph.D, created a monoclonal antibody against TNF alpha, a powerful promoter of inflammation. TNF-alpha is involved in the pathogenesis of numerous autoimmune diseases. Collaborating with the biotechnology company Centocor, Vilcek and Le helped to develop the biologic drug initially termed CA2, which is now known commercially as Remicade. Remicade is a potent anti-inflammatory agent used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, proriasis and some other inflammatory diseases.

The success of Remicade encouraged the development of numerous other anti-TNF agents, two of which have been commercially approved (Humira and Enbrel), all of which are being used to treat numerous immune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs).

In 2000, Dr. Vilcek and his wife Marica established the Vilcek Foundation, devoted to increasing public awareness of the contribution of immigrants to professional, academic and artistic life in the United States. In 2005, Dr. Vilcek made a donation to NYU valued at over 100 million dollars.