Basil Hirschowitz
Basil Isaac Hirschowitz (born May 29, 1925 in Bethal , South Africa , † January 19, 2013 in Birmingham , Alabama ) was an academic gastroenterologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham .
He completed his medical training at Witwatersrand University , where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1943 , his bachelor's degrees in medicine (MB) and surgery (ChB) in 1947 and his medical doctorate (MD) in 1954. From 1948 to 1949 he was House Officer at Johannesburg General Hospital, went to London in 1950 and was Registrar at Central Middlesex Hospital from 1951 to 1953.
In 1953 he went to the USA, where he first belonged to a gastrointestinal research group at the University of Michigan , was an instructor and later an assistant professor in the department of internal medicine. In 1957 he became an assistant professor at Temple University and in 1959 an associate professor at the Medical College of Alabama , where he became a professor in 1964 and headed the gastroenterology department from 1959 to 1988.
Around 1955-1958 he developed an improved optical fiber with C. Wilbur Peter and Lawrence E. Curtiss, which made the first flexible endoscope possible. He dealt with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the physiology of the stomach and mechanisms and therapy of overproduction of gastric acid.
He had been married since 1958. In 1961 he was naturalized in the USA.
Hirschowitz was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh , Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science .
Awards
- Schindler Medal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (1973)
- Friedenwald Medal of the American Gastroenterological Association (1992)
- General Motors Cancer Research Awards Kettering Prize (1987)
- Honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg (2006)
Web links
- http://www.uab.edu/medicine/gastroenterology/faculty/basil-hirschowitz-md
- http://www.gastrohep.com/profiles/default.asp?person=bhirschowitz
Individual evidence
- ↑ Career data based on American Men and Women of Science , Thomson Gale 2004
- ^ Jeff Hecht: City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics ; P. 61f
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hirschowitz, Basil |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hirschowitz, Basil Isaac |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | South African-American gastroenterologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 29, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bethal |
| DATE OF DEATH | 19th January 2013 |
| Place of death | Birmingham , Alabama |