George Herbert Hitchings
George Herbert Hitchings (born April 18, 1905 in Hoquiam , Washington , † February 27, 1998 in Chapel Hill , North Carolina ) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist. For a long time he was Research Director of Burroughs Wellcome & Company .
In 1988, together with James W. Black and Gertrude Elion , he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for biochemical discoveries that opened up new drug therapy options . In particular, he researched the differences in the nucleic acid metabolism of human cells, cancer cells , bacteria , viruses and protozoa . The knowledge gained in this way contributed significantly to improving the fight against infections and cancer cells through chemotherapy . In 1968 he had already received a Gairdner Foundation International Award .
Hitchings attended Franklin High School in Seattle and studied from 1923 at the University of Washington , with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1927 and a master's degree in 1928 with a work done at the marine biology station of the university in Puget Sound . He continued his studies at Harvard University and received his PhD from Harvard Medical School in 1933. He then did research at Harvard and Case Western Reserve University and was from 1942 at the Wellcome Research Laboratories, where his collaboration with Gertrude Elion began. The drugs he helped develop included pyrimethamine (for malaria, among others), mercaptopurine (a cytostatic drug for leukemia ), tioguanine (a cytostatic drug), allopurinol (for gout), azathioprine ( immunosuppressant ), and trimethoprim (an antibiotic).
In 1967 he became Vice President, Research at Burroughs-Wellcome. In 1976 he retired. In addition to his work at Wellcome, he taught at Duke University School of Medicine. In 1977 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1991 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
literature
- Gisela Baumgart: Hitchings, George Herbert. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 606.
Web links
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the award ceremony in 1988 to George Herbert Hitchings
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hitchings, George Herbert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American biochemist, Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hoquiam , Washington |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 27, 1998 |
| Place of death | Chapel Hill , North Carolina |