C. Richard Schlegel is an American scientist and professor. He was the Chair of the Department of Pathology at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

from 2000-2019 and is now the director of the Center for Cell Reprogramming at Georgetown. Conditionally Reprogrammed Cells (CRC) technology.

Personal life

Schlegel met his future wife, Susan Banks-Schlegel, in the microbiology laboratory in which he worked after his first year at Northwestern University. They were married in 1978. They have three children together. Schlegel received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

biological science Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

s from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 1968. After graduating, he went on to enroll at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, where he planned to study

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

. However, after working at a

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

laboratory at Northwestern University the summer after his first year, he decided instead to enroll in the MD-PhD program. After graduating, Schlegel went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1975 to serve his residency and perform

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

in pathology.

Career

Following his work at Harvard University, Schlegel and his wife both began working at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. Schlegel worked in the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

's Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and there he began precursory work that would contribute to his later development of the HPV vaccine. He first studied a

bovine papillomavirus Bovine papillomaviruses (BPV) are a paraphyletic group of DNA viruses of the subfamily '' Firstpapillomavirinae'' of '' Papillomaviridae'' that are common in cattle. All BPVs have a circular double-stranded DNA genome. Infection causes warts ...

, then focused on the E5, E6, and E7 proteins of the human papillomavirus. In 1988, Schlegel began working with A. Bennett Jenson, a member of the Georgetown University faculty. When Schlegel began working as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

at Georgetown University in 1990, their work gained momentum. In 1995, they published a paper in the ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' that demonstrated that their vaccine could protect against a virus like that seen in

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

. The main

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

on the vaccine was granted in 2005, and the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

approved it in June 2006. In 2003, Schlegel became the Chair of the Department of Pathology at Georgetown University. He currently is working to create an inexpensive and easily transported version of the HPV vaccine for use in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

, where deaths from cervical cancer are most prevalent. Schlegel has also mentioned his interest in creating a vaccine that is effective both before and after infection with HPV. Schlegel has been an associate editor of ''

Virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

'' since 1990. He is a permanent member of the Virology study section of the National Institutes of Health. In 2006, he was awarded the Georgetown University President's Medal. In 2011, Georgetown University awarded him the Patrick Healy Award. He recently received the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teaching at Georgetown University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlegel, Richard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American inventors Rutgers University alumni Northwestern University alumni Feinberg School of Medicine alumni Georgetown University Medical Center faculty American virologists Harvard Medical School people