birth_place awards fields workplaces birth_date spouse residence image article_title name alma_mater
bratislava , slovakia -lrb- formerly czechoslovakia -rrb- national medal of technology and innovation -lrb- 2012 -rrb- microbiology , immunology czechoslovak of medicine academy of sciences , new york university school 17 june 1933 marica vilcek new york city jan_vilcek . jpg ján vilček
 ján vilček comenius university in bratislava
ján vilček

jan t. vilček m.d. , ph.d. -lrb- born june 17 , 1933 -rrb- is a biomedical scientist , educator , inventor and philanthropist .
he is a professor in the department of microbiology at the new york university school of medicine and president of the vilcek foundation .
vilček , a native of bratislava , slovakia , -lrb- formerly czechoslovakia -rrb- received his m.d. degree from comenius university medical school , bratislava , czechoslovakia in 1957 ; and his ph.d. in virology from the institute of virology , czechoslovak academy of sciences , bratislava , czechoslovakia in 1962 .
in 1964 , jan vilček , with his wife marica , defected from communist czechoslovakia during a three-day visit to vienna .
in 1965 , the vilčeks immigrated to the united states , and have since lived in new york city .
vilček devoted his scientific career to studies of soluble mediators that regulate the immune system -lrb- cytokines -rrb- , including interferon and tumor necrosis factor -lrb- tnf -rrb- .
