Scholarships for med students to honor Worcester oncology researcher – Worcester Telegram
WORCESTER — The Scholarship Fund of the Worcester District Medical Society has added two scholarships in perpetuity in remembrance of Dr. Herbert Nieburgs and his wife, Suzzane Kay Nieburgs, longtime Worcester residents and pioneers in oncological research.
The funds for the $4,000 scholarships were made available after the dissolution of the International Society for Preventive Oncology, founded by Nieburgs in 1968. The Worcester-based society gained $350,000.
The society, the third-oldest medical society in the country, distributes book awards and scholarships to Central Massachusetts medical students across all medical disciplines. The Nieburgses’ scholarships will be given specifically to students studying oncology, to honor Nieburgs’ legacy and lifetime dedication to the field.
Nieburgs, the inventor of a high-magnification microscope for research, was a world citizen, living in five European countries before he moved to the United States in the 1940s. He spent the final decades of his career in Worcester as a professor of pathology at what is now UMass Chan Medical School. He worked there until his death at 99 in 2013.
“The Nieburgses would be very happy donating to the Scholarship Fund of the WDMS,” said Martha Wright, the executive director of the medical society. “Although they traveled the world, they spent 30 years living and working in Worcester.”
Following Nieburgs’ death, his wife continued to carry out the International Society for Preventive Oncology’s mission.
“She really had a passion for keeping his work going,” said Wright.
The oncology society began providing scholarship money to the Worcester society about seven years ago, Wright said. Suzanne Nieburgs died in 2022, with the oncology society dissolving three years later. The foundation’s remaining $350,000 was donated to the Worcester society.
The Nieburgses’ scholarships, along with other scholarships, will be awarded at the annual fall district meeting Nov. 20 at the Beechwood Hotel.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the average medical school debt upon graduation is $200,000. Wright said she hopes the foundation’s scholarship funds can lessen the financial burden for students.
“We’re really supporting the next generation of doctors and physicians,” she said.
