Prof. Stefania Jabłońska died on May 8, 2017 in Warsaw, at the age of 96. She chaired the Department of Dermatology of the Warsaw School of Medicine between 1954 and 1990, and trained many students motivated by clinical science. As professor emeritus, she remained remarkably active until she had to face serious health problems.
Despite the cold war, S. Jabłońska established many international contacts and collaborations and gained a worldwide recognition for her work on immunological aspects of cutaneous autoimmune diseases, and on HPVs.
After her seminal paper “Epidermodysplasia verruciformis as a model in studies on the role of Papovaviruses in oncogenesis”, S. Jabłońska started collaborating with Gérard Orth at the Pasteur Institute in 1976.
EV was soon shown to be associated with a specific group of related HPVs and HPV-5 to be the major risk factor for EV skin cancers. Further work dealt with EV HPVs and novel cutaneous or mucosal HPV types, cutaneous warts, nonmelanoma skin cancer, cell-mediated immunity defects in EV, and the possible role of EV HPVs in psoriasis and epidermal repair processes. Stefania Jabłońska will be remembered for her extraordinary intellectual curiosity and power of conviction, and for her impressive propensity to translate new knowledge into the benefit of her patients.
Prof. Gérard Orth
(23 08 17)
IPVS Founders Travel Award in memory of Prof. Stefania Jabłońska
The International Papillomavirus Society is pleased to announce the “IPVS Founders Travel Award”. This meritorious award will fund one travel grant for a young investigator who submits an abstract to the IPVC2018 Conference taking place in Sydney, Australia, 2-6 October 2018. The scholarships will cover the cost of hotel (5 nights up to USD $150 per night), economy air transportation up to USD $1000 and registration.
The IPVS Founders Travel Award 2018 will be given in memoriam of Prof. Stefania Jabłońska and her important contributions to HPV research, who sadly passed away in May 2017.
