Obituary Dr. Nils Oker-Blom
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Virology Division News
Obituary Dr. Nits Oker-Blom
In early 1995, the international virology community lost one of its prominent representatives. Nils Oker-Blom, Professor emeritus of Virology, at the University of Helsinki, Finland, died on January 16th of cancer. He was 75 years old and is mourned by his lifetime companion and wife, Constance, and three children. Born in 1919 in Helsinki, Oker-Blom graduated as an MD in 1947, and defended his PhD thesis in sero-bacteriology in 1948 at the University of Helsinki. He became the first professor in virology in Finland, and chairman of the Department of Virology at the University of Helsinki in 1957. In parallel with his scientific work he developed a phenomenal administrative career within the University. He was first Dean of the Medical Faculty (1968-69), then Vice-Rector (1973-78), Rector (1978-83), and finally Chancellor (t983-88). After his retirement, he received the honorary title of "Arkiater" (the eldest amonst physicians), a prestigious title held by only one physican at a time in Finland. Oker-Blom dedicated much efforts to promote international science. In 1968 he ihosted the first Intemational Congress of Virology in Helsinki. This started a tradition to hold ICV's every third year, the Xth Congress being next year in Jerusalem. At the ICV90 in Berlin, Oker-Blom, together with his long standing friend Joseph Melnick, was presented with a Virology Division award in recognition of his work in initiating the congresses and for promoting internationN virology. He was the Secretary of the Virology Section of the Association of Microbiological Societies (1970-75), the Vice-President of the European Association of Poliomyelitis and other Virus Diseases (1969-73), Vice-President (197376), President (1976-79), and Past-President (1979-82) of the International Union of Biological Sciences, just to mention a few of his international engagements. Oker-Btom's interest in virology was initiated in the late 1940es during visits to the laboratories of Sven Gard in Stockholm in 1948, and Francis Duran-Reynals at Yale
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University in 1949-50. Through his studies on Rous sarcoma virus in the latter laboratory, his life-long interest in the biology of avian retroviruses and their role in tumorigenesis was initiated. This led to the isolation and characterization of the acute chicken leukosis virus OK-10. During the 1950es, Oker-Blom was engaged in studies on the epidemiology of virus infections, and vaccination against poliovirus. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, Oker-Blom and his colleagues in the late 1950es and early 1960es carried out a major survey of the presence of arthropod-borne viruses in Finland. This led to the first isolation of tick-borne encephalitis virus in Finland (the causative agent of the "Kumlinge disease"), and of Inkoo and Uukuniemi viruses, two new Bunyaviridae members. In the 1970es he also had a keen interest in chemotherapy and -prophylaxis of virus infections. During the early 1980es, he vigorously promoted
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