William H. Prusoff

Professor William H. Prusoff, 90, of Branford died Sunday, April 3. He was the widower of Dr. Brigitte Auerbach. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was a son of the late Samuel and Mary (Metrick) Prusoff. He was a member of the Yale School of Medicine faculty for 57 years, and a fellow of Pierson College at the University.
Prusoff graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in chemistry. He obtained a PhD in chemistry at Columbia University and did his postdoctoral work at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. He joined the Yale faculty in 1953. Prusoff synthesized 5-iodo-deoxyuridine, one of the first nucleoside analogues. This compound was the first clinically used anti-viral drug. For this seminal work, he has been called, “the father of antiviral chemotherapy.”
Prusoff’s major contribution, however, was still to come. In the 1980s, the AIDS epidemic was raging. Another of his compounds, d4T, developed with his late Yale colleague, Tai-shun Lin, was active against HIV. It was a component of the first “AIDS Cocktail.” Millions of people worldwide were treated with d4T, and the AIDS epidemic was slowed until more effective drugs were developed.
Prusoff was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peter Parker Medal, the highest award from the Yale School of Medicine, and the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He actively, and ultimately successfully, lobbied to make d4T available cheaply in impoverished areas of the world. Under his direction, the William H. Prusoff Foundation supported numerous programs, including the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism (YIISA). He also endowed several lectureships in virology and pharmacology at Yale and funded several scientific prizes.
Prusoff is survived by his two children, Alvin (Dr. Deborah DeRose) and Laura (Nurettin Mantar); and three grandchildren, Sarah, Zachary and Douglas Prusoff. He was also predeceased by his brother George.