Robert A. Roosa, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus

Robert A. Roosa, Ph.D., has been emeritus professor at The Wistar Institute since 1993. In his more than thirty years as a member of The Wistar Institute’s active scientific staff, Roosa worked both as a scientist and as a senior administrator.

Roosa joined Wistar in 1960 as a research associate following a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. In 1965, he was promoted to associate professor. He served as director of scientific services from 1970-75 and was curator of The Wistar Institute Museum’s collections from 1970-1993. He also spent a year as an Eleanor Roosevelt Fellow at the University of Glasgow.

His research endeavors included studying the effects of combined chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer, the necessity of certain amino acids for the growth of animal cells in culture, the development of drug resistance in cell cultures, the effect of enzyme changes in drug resistance, the use of anti-metabolites to select for variant cell lines, and the successful DNA-mediated transformation of drug resistance.

In 1975, Roosa was appointed science administrator for The Wistar Institute, a position he held until moving to emeritus status. As science administrator, Roosa supervised the Animal Facility, The Wistar Institute Museum, the Editorial Office and Grant Preparation, Equipment Management, the Glassware Facility, the Histology Facility, the Library, the Safety Office, and the Multiple Sclerosis Research Center.