Francis Otto Schmitt
Francis Otto Schmitt (born November 23, 1903 in St. Louis , Missouri , † October 3, 1995 in Weston , Massachusetts) was an American neurobiologist.
In the 1930s and 1940s he examined the ultrafine structure of the myelin layers of peripheral nerves with the help of electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction as well as small-angle scattering . He isolated various connective tissue and muscle structures, including paramyosin.
Schmitt received his PhD in physiology from Washington University in 1927 . From 1941 he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge / Mass. At MIT he set up the Department for Biology and Biological Engineering. In 1962 he was also the founder of the Neuroscience Research Program (NRP) at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). This foundation was intended to support the contribution of various disciplines (anatomy, chemistry, electrophysiology, computer science, linguistics, molecular biology, physics) to the new discipline of neurosciences (»Neurosciences«).
In 1948 Schmitt became a member of the National Academy of Sciences and in 1953 the American Philosophical Society , in 1956 he received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Francis O. Schmitt. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 1, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmitt, Francis Otto |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American neurobiologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 23, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Louis , Missouri |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 3, 1995 |
| Place of death | Weston , Massachusetts |