Internationally renowned virologist, former faculty member dies

Mary K. Howett, an internationally renowned virologist and former Penn State College of Medicine faculty member, died Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the age of 60 from complications related to leukemia.

"Mary K," as she was called by friends and colleagues, spent 30 years in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology before retiring as professor emeritus. In 2003 she accepted the position of professor and head of the Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology at Drexel University. She had a distinguished career in viral oncology and directed a research program primarily focused on human papillomaviruses (HPV).

Howett received a bachelor of science degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) in 1969, from which she received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002. She received her doctoral degree in 1976 from The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology of the University of Pennsylvania.

Over a long and distinguished career, Howett was the adviser of 45 doctoral students and numerous postdoctoral fellows who have moved on to successful careers in education, science and industry. She was a member of nine professional societies and a founding member of The International Society for NeuroVirology. She published more than 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals. She was the first female scientist to receive a National Institutes of Health fellowship to study at the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. She also was an invited lecturer at the Institute of Virology in Beijing and at Wuhan University in Wuhan, both in the People's Republic of China.

Her work at Penn State, supported by the Jake Gittlen Cancer Research Institute, led to the discovery of a method for propagating HPV, which contributed to the development of vaccines to prevent cervical cancer, including Gardasil, recently released by Merck Pharmaceutical Co. Howett served as a loyal and distinguished mentor for a number of Penn State doctoral students students and postdoctoral scholars and contributed to the teaching of both medical and graduate students.

Her more-recent studies involved the development of microbicides to prevent sexual transmission of HPV and HIV as well as other sexually transmitted pathogens.

Howett is survived by her husband, Jack, and two children, Tim and Julia.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Mary K Howett Scholarship Fund at Drexel University, Office of Institutional Advancement, 3141 Chestnut St., Suite 310, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Flowers may be sent to the Hetrick Funeral Home, 3125 Walnut St., Harrisburg, PA 17109.