Clay Margarave Armstrong (born 1934) is an American physiologist and a former student of Dr. Andrew Fielding Huxley. He is currently a professor of Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

.

He was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers that have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry....

 from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1996.
He won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research

The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of disease...

 (shared with Bertil Hille

Bertil Hille

Bertil Hille is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington. He is particularly well known for his research and expertise on cell signalling by ion channels.-Early life and education:...

 and Roderick MacKinnon

Roderick MacKinnon

Roderick MacKinnon is a professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Peter Agre in 2003 for his work on the structure and operation of ion channels....

) in 1999.
Armstrong was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 in 1999.
He won the 2001 Gairdner International Award.

He is married to Clara Franzini-Armstrong

Clara Franzini-Armstrong

Clara Franzini-Armstrong FMRS is an American electron microscopist, and Professor Emeritus of Cell and Developmental Biology at University of Pennsylvania.-Life:...

.

Ideas and influence

Much of our present knowledge concerning ion channel structure and function can be traced to Dr. Clay Armstrong. He provided the first general description of the K+ ion channel

Ion channel

Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that help establish and control the small voltage gradient across the plasma membrane of cells by allowing the flow of ions down their electrochemical gradient. They are present in the membranes that surround all biological cells...

pore, including the fundamental ideas of a selectivity filter, a wider inner vestibule and a gate on the inside. A consistent feature of Armstrong's contributions is the absolutely quantitative nature of the work and the resulting fidelity of his clear and concise descriptions. His work has been so profound that it has had enormous influence on the work of others, leading to our present understanding of channel structure and function.