Physician honored posthumously for improving blood services
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Michael Chopek M.D. posthumously received the 1997 Charles R. Drew Award given by the American Red Cross. Because of his sudden death of a heart attack on October 21, 1996, he was unaware that he would be honored with the prestigious award for outstanding contributions to strengthening and improving blood services.
Dr. Chopek was renowned in the fields of transfusion medicine and transplantation. His studies of the effect of plasma protein status have remained the most comprehensive and definitive analyses of the effect of plasma exchange and are widely used by physicians to determine the methods and replacement solutions to be used for plasma exchange therapy.
Dr. Chopek introduced new molecular genetics techniques for HLA typing, placing the American Red Cross in a position to serve as a contract laboratory to carry out this typing for the National Marrow Donor program.
Dr. Chopek was born on November 21, 1947, in Boston. He graduated with honors from Harvard University and received his medical degree from the University of Rochester. Following professional appointments at the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington and the American Red Cross in Massachusetts, he was named director and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross National Histocompatibility Laboratory, affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. He was the author of numerous medical and scientific publications.
Dr. Chopek's parents were long-time members of Ukrainian National Association Branch 307 in Boston, as he was in his younger years. He attended the Ukrainian cultural courses at Soyuzivka.
Dr. Chopek was preceded in death by his father, Walter Chopek. He is survived by his mother, Stephanie Chopek; his sisters, Joanne Mancicni and Linda Intini; and many cousins, one of whom is Anna Chopek, honorary member of the UNA General Assembly.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 7, 1997, No. 36, Vol. LXV
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