Irena Koprowska

Irena Koprowska, née Grasberg (born. May 12, 1917 in Warsaw, died. August 16, 2012 Wynnewood Pennsylvania, USA)[1] was a Polish pathologist in the United States, and the first woman to be named a full professor at Hahnemann Medical College, now Drexel University College of Medicine[2] . Her husband Hilary Koprowski was an eminent virologist, and the discoverer of the first effective oral polio vaccine. An accomplished scientist in her own right, Koprowska was mentored by Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou the inventor of the "Pap smear", and went on to become a leader in the field of cytopathology.[3][2] Dr. Koprowska was a founding member of the Inter Society Council of Cytology, which became the American Society of Cytopathology and which, in 1985, gave her its Papanikolaou Award.[2] Additionally, she co-authored, with Dr. George Papanicolaou, a case report of the earliest diagnosis of lung cancer by a sputum smear.[2]