Jerome Phillip Horwitz (January 16, 1919 – September 6, 2012)[1][2] was an American scientist; his affiliations included the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Michigan Cancer Foundation.
Horwitz was a Jewish Detroit native and 1937 graduate of Central High School.
He completed his post-doctoral training at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan[4] In 1964, while conducting research for the Michigan Cancer Foundation, Horwitz synthesized a compound that was to become known as zidovudine (AZT) - an antiviral drug used to treat HIV patients; Zidovudine was initially developed as a treatment for cancer.
[5] Horwitz was also first to synthesize stavudine (d4T) and zalcitabine (ddC) - two other reverse-transcriptase inhibitors used in the treatment of HIV patients.
At the time of his most recent findings, Horwitz was working for the Michigan Cancer Foundation with a federal grant from the National Institutes of Health; he retired in 2005.