![photo of Charles Weissmann](https://www.cshl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Charles-Weissmann.jpg)
Dr. Weissmann is particularly known for the first cloning and expression of interferon and his contributions to the unraveling of the molecular genetics of neurogenerative prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Dr. Weissmann has won many awards, notably the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in 2003 for his work with the purification, characterization, and cloning of human interferon-alpha.
Scope and Content
The Charles Weissmann Biogen Papers are composed of material accrued by Weissmann during his affiliation with Biogen, located in Geneva, Switzerland and Cambridge, MA. The collection includes Biogen corporate documents and correspondence, Biogen financial information both about the company and its primary shareholders, product research and development, and a set of photographs. In addition, many of the files contain experiment result photographs. The product development and research focuses on research and genetically engineered interferons (IFN) and interleukin 2 (IL-2). Biogen, one of the first biotechnology companies, was founded in 1978 in Geneva by several biologists, including Phillip Sharp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Walter Gilbert of Harvard (who served as CEO during the start-up phase).