Madison News Roundup

Edwin D. Kilbourne, one of the world’s leading authorities on influenza who created the first genetically engineered vaccine used for the prevention of human disease, died Feb. 21 in Branford, CT. He was 90. A long-time Madison resident, Dr. Kilbourne spent his professional lifetime in the study of infectious diseases, with particular focus on virus infections. His primary contributions were to the understanding of influenza virus structure and genetics, and the practical application of these studies to the development of influenza vaccines and to the understanding of the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of influenza. As one of the country’s leaders in biomedical science during the latter 20th century, Dr. Kilbourne was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Association of American Physicians and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Kilbourne has served on advisory committees to the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA. Read the full obituary.

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