Lewis L. Coriell, M.D., Ph.D. scientist and physician, virologist and pediatrician, president emeritus of the Camden, New Jersey-based Coriell Institute for Medical Research died on June 19, 2001, at Cooper Health System. This day was his 90th birthday. Dr. Lewis Coriell established a research institute that now bears his name and made numerous significant contributions to the course of modern biomedical research worldwide.

Dr. Coriell earned his Ph.D. in 1940 and his M.D. with honors in 1942 from the University of Kansas. Following service in the Army at Fort Detrick during World War II, Dr. Coriell served a Fellowship with Dr. Joseph Stokes, Jr., Chief of Staff of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He did research on Herpes virus infections and collaborated in the development of gamma globulin as the first prophylactic agent for poliomyelitis. In order to grow the polio virus to study this disease, Dr. Coriell made major improvements in the culture of human cells. Not only did Dr. Coriell create the critical technology for the production of the polio vaccine, he also created essential tools for the field of cell biology.

Following this success, he was chosen by the National Poliomyelitis Foundation to evaluate the Salk polio virus vaccine clinical trials in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The success of the evaluation program led to the release of the Salk vaccine on the national level. Dr. Coriell received the Presidential Medal at the International Poliomyelitis Congress in 1957. Shortly after, he became chairman of the Committee on the Control of Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This committee formulated the vaccination procedures for all children in this critical period.

His role in New Jersey began when he was appointed Medical Director of the Camden Municipal Hospital for Contagious Diseases in 1949. In 1953, he initiated a campaign to build the first not-for-profit academic medical research institute in South Jersey. With strong support from local business leaders, the South Jersey Medical Research Foundation dedicated its own laboratory facility in 1956. In 1966, the name was changed to the Institute for Medical Research and then to the Coriell Institute for Medical Research on the occasion of his retirement in 1985. Under Dr. Coriell's guidance, the Institute initiated research in cancer, environmental mutagens, human cytogenetics, medical and laboratory clean rooms, infectious diseases and methods to improve cell culture techniques. Among the prominent scientists associated with Dr. Coriell in these projects have been Drs. Robert M. McAllister, Dan H. Moore, W.W. Nichols, A.E. Greene and G.J. McGarrity. Dr. Coriell was known as a fatherly, patient teacher and counselor. His door was always open to all employees and colleagues for help with research or their personal concerns.

Dr. Coriell's most enduring accomplishment was the development of cell culture techniques. He was instrumental in initiating some of the first studies to freeze and store cell cultures successfully at very low temperatures in liquid nitrogen. He and his colleagues' basic studies were applicable to freezing and storing skin and blood cell cultures for research. A pioneer in developing new techniques for maintaining sterility of animal and human cells in culture in a standardized manner, the techniques developed by Dr. Coriell are currently in use in research laboratories around the world. As part of this work, he developed the use of filtered air in microbiology laboratories. The application of clean air techniques to operating rooms and hospitals has been an important advance in preventing infections in surgery and in critically ill patients. The cell culture collections that he initiated have proven key to modern human genetics and represent the world's largest collections of human cells for use in research.

Dr. Coriell's leadership in cell culture techniques led to the first standard characterized cell repository at the Coriell Institute, funded by the National Cancer Institute in 1964. In 1972, Dr. Coriell's institute was chosen by the National Institutes of Health to develop the Human Genetic Mutant Cell Repository in 1972 and the national Aging Cell Repository in 1974.

Although Dr. Coriell technically retired from the Institute for Medical Research in 1985, he remained involved in many aspects of the Institute. He served on its Board of Trustees and committees, attended seminars, and often spoke with groups about the Institute's history. Following his retirement, he was elected President of the prestigious College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest medical society in America. He is the only New Jersey physician to receive this honor. During his tenure as President, Dr. Coriell presided over the bicentennial celebration of the College, at which President Ronald Reagan was the guest of honor. Dr. Coriell also had a long and active tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees of Cooper Hospital in Camden.

Dr. Coriell had a major influence on medical education and research in New Jersey. In the 1960's and 1970's, he worked with members of the New Jersey Medical Society and other related groups in urging the development of two medical schools in the state. He was the driving force behind the organization and development of the New Jersey Cancer Commission.

During his career as a scientist and well after his retirement, Dr. Coriell always felt the excitement and joy of 'the scientist' as he came in to study his cell cultures, and he always entered a laboratory with youthful eagerness. In speaking about his own career at the bench, Dr. Coriell admitted once, "You set up an experiment to test the theory, and most of the time it's not the way you thought it would be. But that's the way you learn. You go from hypothesis to hypothesis. And it's exciting because that's the way we learn to treat, to diagnose, and to prevent illness."

Dr. Coriell is survived by three sons, Steven, Thomas, and James; nine grandchildren; a brother; and a sister. He was the widower of Esther Lentz Coriell.

Contributions may be made to the Coriell Institute, 403 Haddon Avenue, Camden, New Jersey 08103. Memorial services were held at Medford Leas in Medford, New Jersey on July 10, 2001.