[1][2] It is named after Kenneth Warren (June 11, 1929 – September 18, 1996), a powerful figure in twentieth century medicine whose work transformed public health policy and tropical medicine, and who left a profound legacy in global health thinking.
[3][4][circular reference] The institute was incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation, under the New York State law and Internal Revenue Code [Section 501 (c)(3)], and was originally chartered in 1980, under the name of the Drug and Vaccine Development Corporation (DVDC).
[5] The campus and surrounding nature preserve was the Kitchawan Research Station of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Collaborative work was also done with the Neuroscience Institute in Milan (previously part of the Italian National Research Council).
[6] Researchers at the Warren Institute looked at erythropoietin as a tissue-protective cytokine in brain injury[7] and eventually developed non-erythropoietic small peptides for innate protection and repair of tissues from inflammation.