Ernst Knobil

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Ernst Knobil (born  September 20, 1926 in Berlin ; †  April 13, 2000 in Houston ) was a German - American physiologist and endocrinologist who was considered one of the leading neuroendocrinologists during his lifetime . He worked from 1961 to 1981 at the University of Pittsburgh and then until 1997 at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , and was particularly concerned with the hormonal regulation of growth and reproduction . In recognition of his research, which among other things improved the treatment of female infertility , prostate cancer and certain forms of short stature , he was admitted to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986 and was awarded the Dickson Prize in Medicine in 1990.

Life

Ernst Knobil was born in Berlin in 1926 to an Austrian father and a German mother, both of Jewish descent. At the age of six he and his family emigrated to Paris and in 1940 to the United States via Genoa . He began studying zoology at the age of 15 at the New York State College of Agriculture , a college at Cornell University , graduating in 1948 with a break from military service. Three years later he also received his PhD in zoology from Cornell University .

He then did a post-doctoral stay at Harvard University from 1951 to 1953 , where he then worked as a lecturer and from 1957 as an assistant professor. In 1961 he became professor of physiology and founding director of the department of physiology at the University of Pittsburgh , where he worked until 1981. In the same year he moved to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston , where he served as dean until 1984 and then headed a laboratory for neuroendocrinology until 1997.

Ernst Knobil was married twice and the father of two sons from his first marriage and a son and a daughter from his second marriage. He died in Houston in 2000 from a pancreatic tumor .

Scientific work

Ernst Knobil, who published 217 scientific publications , devoted himself in particular to the physiology of growth and reproduction over the course of his career . He was particularly interested in the effects of somatropin , the influence of estrogen on the menstrual cycle and the role of the hormone gonadoliberin (GnRH) produced in the hypothalamus .

One of his most important discoveries was the observation that rhythmically released GnRH stimulates the production of luteinizing hormone (LH), while continuous administration of GnRH reduces the secretion of LH by the adenohypophysis , thus establishing rhythmic secretion as an important mechanism of hormonal control . He also described the species specificity as the reason for the ineffectiveness of animal growth hormones in humans, after contamination of the hormones obtained from animal organs had previously been assumed as the cause.

Among other things, his research contributed to a deeper understanding of the menstrual cycle and better treatment options for female fertility disorders , prostate cancer and certain forms of short stature . In 1979/1980 he served as President of the American Physiological Society .

Awards

Ernst Knobil belonged to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1981 and to the National Academy of Sciences from 1986 and was also a foreign member of the French Académie des Sciences , the Italian Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine . He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Bordeaux (1980), the Medical College of Wisconsin (1983), the University of Liège (1994) and the University of Milan .

In addition, he received the Dickson Prize in Medicine in 1990 and the highest honors of several American professional societies, including the Fred Conrad Koch Award of the Endocrine Society in 1982, the Carl G. Hartman Award of the Society for the Study of Reproduction in 1983 and the Walter B. Cannon in 1997 Memorial Lecture of the American Physiological Society . In 1994 a commemorative publication was published in his honor . At the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Ernst Knobil Distinguished Lecture, a series of lectures that has been taking place since 2001, is named after him.

Works (selection)

  • The Pituitary Gland and its Neuroendocrine Control. Series: Handbook of Physiology. Section 7 ( Endocrinology ) Volume 4. Washington 1974 (as Associate Editor)
  • The Physiology of Reproduction. Two volumes. New York 1988, 1994; third edition: Knobil and Neill's Physiology of Reproduction. Amsterdam and Boston 2006 (as co-author)
  • Encyclopedia of Reproduction. Four volumes. San Diego 1998 (as Associate Editor)

literature

  • Jimmy D. Neill: In Memoriam: Ernst Knobil (1926-2000). In: Endocrine Reviews . 22 (6) / 2001. The Endocrine Society, pp. 721-723, ISSN  0163-769X
  • Luciano Martini, William F. Ganong: In Memoriam: Ernst Knobil (1926-2000). In: Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology . 21 (3) / 2000. Elsevier, p. 173, ISSN  0091-3022
  • Sharon Tregaskis: In the Timing. Ernst Knobil Unraveled the Secret Life of Hormones. In: PittMed Magazine. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Edition winter 2006/2007. Pp. 28-31

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Knobil, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American physiologist and endocrinologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 2000
Place of death Houston