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Personal papers of Alfred M. Prince (1928-2011), virologist at the New York Blood Center who helped develop the hepatitis vaccine. He was involved in developing more humane protocols for the chimpanzee colonies he established in Liberia which were used in virology research. Includes correspondence, research data, laboratory protocols for chimpanzee testing, grants, legal documents, publications, photographs, and digital records.
History and Biography
Alfred M. Prince was born December 16, 1928 in Berlin, Germany. He immigrated to the United Kingdom as a child and later to the United States. He received degrees from Yale University (B.A.), Columbia University (M.S.), and Western Reserve University (M.D.).
He had a long career in the Kimball Research Institute, part of the New York Blood Center (NYBC) focusing on the transmission of blood-borne infection via transfusions. During this time, he established a virology laboratory in order to use more humane protocols with chimpanzees in Liberia, Africa. He would later serve as an authority on the ethical testing of AIDS/HIV virus using animals. In 1975, Prince and Baruch Blumberg received the Karl Landsteiner Award of the American Association of Blood Banks for their work on hepatitis. In 1978-1986, Prince and his colleagues developed a low-cost HBV vaccine and offered training and licensing to companies in Korea, China, and Burma.
In 1999 he founded the International Consortium for Blood Safety (ICBS) for labs in the Global South and central Asia with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Prince offered testimony in a court case with Armour pharmaceutical company.
Alfred Prince died October 18, 2011 in Westchester County, New York.
Organization
These papers contain correspondence including letters from Jane Goodall regarding a chimpanzee colony in Liberia, along with colleagues such as Baruch Blumberg and Aaron Kellner. Includes other material documenting the virology laboratory, Vilab II, research grants and data, transcripts of trial testimony, reprints, photographs, optical discs and other digital storage media.
Administrative Information
Gift of daughter Lisa Tatsuko Prince Fishler, January and March, 2023 (accession #2023.001).