John Kopchick

John Joseph Kopchick was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on November 2, 1950 to Peter Kopchick and Kathryn Gabster Kopchick. He spent the first four years of his life in a small coal mining town: Ernest, Pennsylvania. He then moved to Indiana, Pennsylvania with his parents and youngest brother, Bill, where he attended Indiana High School. There, he varsity lettered in baseball, was in the national honor society, and played trumpet in the school band and orchestra. John later attended The Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he met his wife, Charlene Kopchick. They were married on June 26, 1976.

John Kopchick
John Kopchick moderating a session at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting, Boston 2011

Dr. Kopchick received his B.S. in biology in 1972 from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). While attending IUP, he was a founding brother of a social fraternity Chi Alpha Sigma, which is now a chapter of Delta Tau Delta. In 1975, he received his M.S. in biology and chemistry from IUP. The title of his M.S. thesis was ‘Catabolism of alpha-amino adipate by Pseudomonas putida p2’.[2] He went on to attend the University of Texas, MD Anderson Hospital, Houston, Texas and received his Ph.D. in 1980. His dissertation described the biosynthesis of Rauscher murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase. From 1980 to 1982, he continued his research training as a postdoctoral fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in Nutley, New Jersey. He then accepted a position at the prestigious Merck Institute of Therapeutic Research where he conducted and facilitated research from 1982 to 1986, first as a senior research biochemist and later as a research fellow, and finally as a group leader of Molecular Biology at the Department of Animal Drug Discovery. During that time, he developed a system built around cloning and expression of growth hormone (GH) genes.

In 1987, Dr. Kopchick started as Director of the Growth, Diabetes and Obesity section at the nascent Edison Biotechnology Institute (EBI) of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. During his time at EBI, he discovered and characterized the molecular aspects of GH receptor antagonists. This discovery was further developed into the drug, Somavert[ (Pegvisomant for Injection).[3] It has been approved for use in the USA, Europe, and Japan along with 12 other countries for acromegaly, a chronic disease caused by excessive GH secretion. Another notable accomplishment of the Kopchick laboratory is the generation and characterization of the world’s longest lived laboratory mouse, the growth hormone receptor knockout mouse.[4]

In 2014, John and Char Kopchick committed to giving a $2 million donation[5] to support scientific and medical research programs at Ohio University. The donation funds three newly established internal award programs at Ohio University, The John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)/Translational Biomedical Sciences (TBS) Faculty Support Fund, Research Fellowship Award and Undergraduate Student Support Fund.[6]

• In 1976-1980, he received the Roselie B. Hite Pre-doctoral Fellowship at Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas, Houston, Texas
• In 1980-1982, he received the American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship, at Roche Institute of Molecular, Biology, Nutley, New Jersey
• In 1987, Dr. Kopchick was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania
• In 1987, he received the Milton and Lawrence H. Goll Eminent Scholar Endowed Professorship in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
• In 2002, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2002 by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
• In 2006, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2006 by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas, Houston, Texas
• In 2007, he was awarded the AMVETS Silver Helmet Award, the highest award given by the AMVETS for service to the USA
• In 2007, he received the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Riland Award, an award given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to medical science and education, health policy, public policy
• In 2008, he received the Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania[7]
• In 2008, he gave the Commencement Address at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania
• In 2011, he was awarded the British Society for Endocrinology’s Transatlantic Medal[8]
• In 2012, he was named the 2012 Distinguished Professor at Ohio University[9]
• In 2012, the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) announced The John J. Kopchick, Ph.D., Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Endowed Eminent Research Chair (see video announcement here)[10]

• Chen, WY; Wight, DC; Wagner, TE; Kopchick, JJ (1990). "Expression of a mutated bovine growth hormone gene suppresses growth of transgenic mice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 87 (13): 5061–5. Bibcode:1990PNAS...87.5061C. doi:10.1073/pnas.87.13.5061. PMC 54261. PMID 2367524.
• Chen, Wen Y.; Wight, David C.; Chen, Nian Y.; Coleman, Timothy A.; Wagner, Thomas E.; Kopchick, John J. (1991). "Mutations in the Third α-Helix of Bovine Growth Hormone Dramatically Affect Its Intracellular Distribution in Vitro and Growth Enhancement in Transgenic Mice". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 266 (4): 2252–8. PMID 1989980.
• Zhou, Yihua; Xu, Bixiong C.; Maheshwari, Hiralal G.; He, Li; Reed, Michael; Lozykowski, Maria; Okada, Shigeru; Cataldo, Lori; Coschigamo, Karen; Wagner, Thomas E.; Baumann, Gerhard; Kopchick, John J. (1997). "A mammalian model for Laron syndrome produced by targeted disruption of the mouse growth hormone receptor/binding protein gene (the Laron mouse)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94 (24): 13215–20. Bibcode:1997PNAS...9413215Z. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.24.13215. JSTOR 43567. PMC 24289. PMID 9371826.
• Berryman, Darlene E.; Christiansen, Jens Sandahl; Johannsson, Gudmundur; Thorner, Michael O.; Kopchick, John J. (2008). "Role of the GH/IGF-1 axis in lifespan and healthspan: Lessons from animal models". Growth Hormone & IGF Research. 18 (6): 455–71. doi:10.1016/j.ghir.2008.05.005. PMC 2631405. PMID 18710818.
• List, Edward O.; Sackmann-Sala, Lucila; Berryman, Darlene E.; Funk, Kevin; Kelder, Bruce; Gosney, Elahu S.; Okada, Shigeru; Ding, Juan; Cruz-Topete, Diana; Kopchick, John J. (2010). "Endocrine Parameters and Phenotypes of the Growth Hormone Receptor Gene Disrupted (GHR-/-) Mouse". Endocrine Reviews. 32 (3): 356–86. doi:10.1210/er.2010-0009. PMC 3365798. PMID 21123740.