Lauritz Royal Christensen

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Lauritz Royal Christensen (born 1915 in Everson , Washington , † March 22, 1997 in Madison , Connecticut ) was an American microbiologist at the New York University School of Medicine . In 1948, he and William Smith Tillett (1892–1974) won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for the discovery and purification of the enzymes streptokinase and streptodornase .

Christensen studied at the University of Washington in Seattle and received a Ph.D. from St. Louis University in 1941. in bacteriology . In the same year he became a faculty member at New York University , which made him director of the newly formed Berg Institute for Experimental Physiology, Surgery and Pathology in 1953 . In 1967 Christensen received a professorship at the University of Toronto in Canada .

Building on the work of William S. Tillett, who discovered streptokinase in 1933, Christensen was able to elucidate the mechanisms of action of streptokinase and its activation, as well as of streptodornase. He also developed a process for the purification of streptokinase, thus paving the way for the clinical application of these enzymes to dissolve blood clots and fibrin coatings from (chronic) wounds.

Christensen was seen as a leader in the "humane" treatment of laboratory animals . The World Health Organization (WHO) made him chairman of the first symposium on diseases of laboratory animals in Czechoslovakia in 1961. He was the founding president of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science .

Christensen was married and had one daughter.

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personal data
SURNAME Christensen, Lauritz Royal
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Christensen, L. Royal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American microbiologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Everson , Washington
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1997
Place of death Madison , Connecticut