Bernardo Houssay

Bernardo Alberto Houssay (April 10, 1887 – September 21, 1971) was an Argentine physiologist who received (with Carl and Gerty Cori) the 1947 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the role played by pituitary hormones in regulating the amount of blood sugar (glucose) in animals. Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist and Nobel Prize winner File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ... Carl Ferdinand Cori (December 5, 1896 – October 20, 1984) was an American biochemist born in Prague (then in Austria-Hungary) who, together with his wife Gerty Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of how glycogen (animal starch) - a derivative of glucose... Dr. Gerty Cori Dr. Gerty Theresa Cori, née Radnitz, (August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was an American biochemist born in Prague (then Austria-Hungary) who, together with her husband Carl Ferdinand Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 for... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... Located at the base of the skull, the pituitary gland is protected by a bony structure called the sella turcica. ... Hormone is also the NATO reporting name for the Soviet/Russian Kamov Ka-25 military helicopter. ... Glucose (Glc), a monosaccharide (or simple sugar), is the most important carbohydrate in biology. ...

Life

Bernardo Alberto Houssay was born in April 10, 1887, in Buenos Aires, to a French couple who had immigrated to Argentina, Dr. Albert and Clara Houssay. A precocious youngster, he was admitted to the Pharmacy School at the University of Buenos Aires at 14 years of age and subsequently to the Medical School of the same University from 1904 to 1910, beginning when he was only 17 years old. While a third year medical student, Houssay took up a post as a research and teaching assistant in the Chair of Physiology. After graduating, he quickly developed and presented his M.D. thesis on the physiological activities of pituitary extracts, published in 1911, a theme he would pursue for the rest of his scientific career. Since 1908 he was already an assistant lecturer in the same department, and immediately after his doctorate he took up the post of Professor of Physiology in the University's School of Veterinary Medicine. Simultaneously, he started a private practice and as assistant physician at the municipal hospital of Buenos Aires. In 1913 he became Chief Physician at the Alvear Hospital, and, in 1915, Chief of the Section of Experimental Pathology at the National Public Health Laboratories in Buenos Aires. April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... For other uses, see Buenos Aires (disambiguation). ... The Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) is the largest university in Argentina, founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Leonardo da Vincis Vitruvian Man, an important early achievement in the study of physiology. ... The Medicinæ Doctor or Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or D.M.) is a doctorate level degree held by medical doctors. ... Located at the base of the skull, the pituitary gland is protected by a bony structure called the sella turcica. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Veterinary medicine is the application of medical, diagnostic, and therapeutic principles to companion, domestic, exotic, wildlife, and production animals. ... The Doctor by Samuel Luke Fildes This article is about the term physician, one type of doctor; for other uses of the word doctor see Doctor. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Pathology (from Greek pathos, feeling, pain, suffering; and logos, study of; see also -ology) is the study of the processes underlying disease and other forms of illness, harmful abnormality, or dysfunction. ...

In 1919 Houssay was appointed to the chair of physiology at the University of Buenos Aires Medicine School, and, until 1943, he transformed and directed it into a highly respected research department in experimental physiology and medicine of international class. In that year, however, the military dictatorship deprived him of his university posts, due to his liberal political ideas and Houssay was forced to re-establish his research lines and staff at a privately funded Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. This situation, reinforced by a second dismissal by the Peronista government in 1945, was prolonged until 1955, when Peron was ousted from power and Houssay was reinstated in the University of Buenos Aires, where he remained until his retirement. After this he was also director of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, from 1957 on. Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) is the largest university in Argentina, founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... The Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine) is a research and development institution affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ... Juan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine military officer and the President of Argentina from 1946 to 1955 and from 1973 to 1974. ... The National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Spanish: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET) is an Argentine government agency which directs and co-ordinates most of the scientific and technical research done in public universities and institutes. ...

Works

Houssay’s worked in many fields of physiology, such as the nervous, digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems, but his main contribution, which was recognized by the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine of 1947, was on the experimental investigation of the role of the anterior hypophysis gland in the metabolism of carbohydrates, particularly in diabetes mellitus. Houssay demonstrated in the 1930s the diabetogenic effect anterior hypophysis extracts and the decrease in diabetes severity with anterior hypophysectomy. These discoveries stimulated the study of hormonal feedback control mechanisms which are central to all aspects of modern endocrinology. The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: ) are awards in physics, chemistry, literature, peace, physiology or medicine. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... A few of the metabolic pathways in a cell. ... Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds that act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy, other forms being fat and protein. ... For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of very dilute urine, see diabetes insipidus. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... Norepinephrine A hormone (from Greek όρμή - to set in motion) is a chemical messenger from one cell (or group of cells) to another. ... Endocrinology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the endocrine system and its specific secretions called hormones. ...

Houssay’s many disciples along his years of activity became also influential by themselves as they spread around the world; such as Eduardo Braun-Menéndez, and Miguel Rolando Covian (who went to become the "father" of Brazilian neurophysiology, as chairman of the Department of Physiology of the Medical Faculty of Ribeirão Preto of the University of São Paulo). Houssay wrote with them the most influential textbook of Human Physiology in Latin America, in Spanish and Portuguese (the latter was translated by Covian and collaborators), which, since 1950 has been published in successive editions and used in almost all medical schools of the continent. Houssay published more than 600 scientific papers and several specialized books. Besides the Nobel, Houssay won many distinctions and awards from the Universities of Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and Paris and 15 other universities, as well as the prestigious Dale Medal of the Society of Endocrinology (London) in 1960. Miguel R. Covian Miguel Rolando Covian (1913-1992), was an Argentinian/Brazilian physiologist and medical educator and writer. ... Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto in Portuguese) is a medical school of the University of São Paulo located in the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil, founded 1952. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Geography Status City (1951) Region East of England Admin. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Floating not submerging) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Houssay was also very active as a scientific leader and promoter of the advancement of scientific research and medical education, in Argentina as well as in Latin America.

He died on September 21, 1971, in Buenos Aires and is buried in the La Chacarita Cemetery. September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... Cementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, known as the National Cemetery, was opened during a yellow fever epidemic in 1871. ...

Selected bibliography

• Functions of the Pituitary Gland. Boston, 1936.
• The Hypophysis and Secretion of Insulin. Journal of Experimental Medicine, New York, 1942, 75: 547-566.
• Escritos y Discursos. Buenos Aires, 1942.
• The Role of the Hypophysis in Carbohydrate Metabolism and in Diabetes. Nobel Prize lecture, 1947.
• Fisiologia Humana. Buenos Aires, 1950.

External links

• Bernardo Alberto Houssay. WhoNamedIt.
• Bernardo Alberto Houssay Biography. Nobel Foundation.