Nobel Laureate Prof. Harold Varmus visited IIMCB

On September 23, 2025, the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw had the honor of welcoming Prof. Harold Varmus – one of the world’s most influential scientists, whose work has profoundly shaped biomedical research and global scientific collaboration.

Prof. Varmus, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1989), was accompanied during his visit by Prof. Alexander Wlodawer, Senior Investigator at the Center for Structural Biology of the National Cancer Institute, NIH, and foreign member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The program began with a welcome and presentation of the Institute by Prof. Marta Miączyńska, IIMCB Director, and Prof. Marcin Nowotny, Deputy Director for Science. Prof. Varmus  also met with Dr. Stefan Bresson, Head of the Laboratory of RNA Viruses, and toured the Institute’s facilities. The visit concluded with a dinner with IIMCB leadership.

From right: Prof. Harold Varmus, Prof. Marcin Nowotny (standing), Prof. Alexander Włodawer, Prof. Marta Miączyńska 

A molecular biologist of global renown, Prof. Harold Varmus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1989 for the discovery of the cellular origin of oncogenes, a breakthrough that transformed cancer genetics. He has served as Director of the National Institutes of Health, Director of the National Cancer Institute, and President of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is currently a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and chairs the WHO Science Council. Prof. Varmus is also widely recognized as a co-founder of PubMed Central and the Public Library of Science (PLOS), and as a long-standing advocate for open access to scientific knowledge.

     Visiting IIMCB facilities. From right: Prof. Harold Varmus, Prof. Marta Miączyńska, Prof. Alexander Wlodawer, Prof. Marcin Nowotny. Photo: IIMCB 

Visiting Zebrafish Core Facility. From left: Prof. Marta Miączyńska, Prof. Alexander Wlodawer, Prof. Jacek Kuźnicki, Prof. Harold Varmus, Prof. Marcin Nowotny. Photo: IIMCB