Hans Popper was a pathologist, hepatologist and teacher. Together with Dame Sheila Sherlock, he is widely regarded as the founding father of hepatology.
Early life
Popper was born to Carl and Emilie Popper in Vienna on 24 November 1903. His father was a prominent physician and, as a captain in the medical corps, was called to active army duty at the outbreak of World War I. Hans Popper received a classical education at the Akademische Gymnasium and followed his father's footsteps by entering the Medical School of the University of Vienna in 1922 and graduating in 1928.
Career
Popper spent his five postgraduate years in anatomical pathology and established a biochemical laboratory, which at the time was a new field of medical research. He worked under the famous Viennese physician Professor Hans Eppinger, under whose influence he developed his interest in hepatology. One of his main achievements of this period was the creatinine clearance test to assess renal function. After Austria's Anschluß to the Third Reich in 1938, Popper narrowly escaped arrest by boarding a flight to Rotterdam, where he then boarded the SS New Amsterdam on her maiden voyage to New York. He received a research fellowship at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and earned a PhD in pathology at the University of Illinois. He held a succession of senior positions at this institution, including Director of Pathology. He became Scientific Director for the Hektoen Institute for Medical Research and Professor of Pathology at Northwestern University School of Medicine. He was the driving force behind the founding of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, which first met in 1948. In 1957, he was appointed pathologist-in-chief at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, succeeding Paul Klemperer. There, he was pivotal in the founding of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, becoming its first dean. In 1973, he became the Gustave L. Levy Distinguished Service Professor and maintained this position until his death.
Publications
Popper authored and co-authored over 800 papers and 28 books, covering all areas of hepatology.
Personal life
Popper's parents managed to avoid Nazi persecution and joined him in Chicago. His father completed an internship and passed the Illinois State Board examination at the age of 77. Popper married a fellow expatriate, Lina Billig, in 1942. They had two sons, Frank J. Popper and Charles. Hans Popper died of pancreatic cancer on 6 May 1988.
Honours
1928 MD, University of Vienna
1941 MS in Pathology, University of Illinois
1944 PhD in Pathology and Physiology, University of Illinois
