List of Jewish American biologists and physicians
Encyclopedia
This is a list of famous Jewish American biologists and physicians. For other famous Jewish Americans, see List of Jewish Americans.
- Richard AxelRichard AxelRichard Axel is an American neuroscientist whose work on the olfactory system won him and Linda B. Buck, a former post-doctoral scientist in his research group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004....
, olfactory system, Nobel PrizeNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
(2004) - Julius AxelrodJulius AxelrodJulius Axelrod was an American biochemist. He won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler...
, neurotransmitters, Nobel Prize (1970) - David BaltimoreDavid BaltimoreDavid Baltimore is an American biologist, university administrator, and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He served as president of the California Institute of Technology from 1997 to 2006, and is currently the Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology at Caltech...
, reverse transcriptase, Nobel Prize (1975) - Baruj BenacerrafBaruj BenacerrafBaruj Benacerraf was a Venezuelan-born American immunologist, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the "discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes which encode cell surface protein molecules important for the immune system's distinction between self and...
, immunologist, Nobel Prize (1980) - M. A. Benjaminson, microbiologist and biotechnologist, in vitro meatIn vitro meatIn vitro meat, also known as cultured meat, is an animal flesh product that has never been part of a complete, living animal.This form of meat has been described, sometimes derisively, as "laboratory-grown" meat. In vitro meat should not be confused with imitation meat, which is a vegetarian food...
pioneer - Paul BergPaul BergPaul Berg is an American biochemist and professor emeritus at Stanford University. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980, along with Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger. The award recognized their contributions to basic research involving nucleic acids...
, recombinant DNA, Nobel Prize (1980) - Richard BingRichard BingRichard John Bing was a cardiologist who made significant contributions to his field of study.-Early life and education:...
, cardiologist - Konrad Bloch, cholesterol, Nobel Prize (1959)
- Baruch Blumberg, hepatitis B vaccine, Nobel Prize (1976)
- Michael S. Brown, molecular geneticist, Nobel Prize (1985)
- Stanley CohenStanley CohenStan Cohen may refer to:* Stanley Cohen , American Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology and Medicine* Stan Cohen , British Labour politician...
, neurologist, Nobel Prize (1986) - Stanley N. Cohen, genetic engineering
- Gerty CoriGerty CoriGerty Theresa Cori was an American biochemist who became the third woman—and first American woman—to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Cori was born in Prague...
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1947) - Jared DiamondJared DiamondJared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
, evolutionary biologist & biogeographer - Carl DjerassiCarl DjerassiCarl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill . Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E...
, contraceptive pill - Gerald EdelmanGerald EdelmanGerald Maurice Edelman is an American biologist who shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work with Rodney Robert Porter on the immune system. Edelman's Nobel Prize-winning research concerned discovery of the structure of antibody molecules...
, biologist, Nobel Prize (1972) - Gertrude Elion, drug development, Nobel Prize (1988)
- Joseph ErlangerJoseph ErlangerJoseph Erlanger was an American physiologist.Erlanger was born on January 5, 1874, at San Francisco, California. He completed his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his M.D. in 1899 from the Johns Hopkins University...
, physiologist, Nobel Prize (1945) - Edmond H. FischerEdmond H. FischerEdmond H. Fischer is a Swiss American biochemist. He and his collaborator Edwin G. Krebs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1992 for describing how reversible phosphorylation works as a switch to activate proteins and regulate various cellular processes.-Early life:Fischer...
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1992) (Jewish father) - Judah FolkmanJudah FolkmanMoses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence...
, cancer angiogenesis - Casimir Funk, vitamins
- Robert F. FurchgottRobert F. FurchgottRobert Francis Furchgott was a Nobel Prize-winning American biochemist.Furchgott was born in Charleston, SC, to Arthur Furchgott and Pena Sorentrue Furchgott...
, pharmacologist, Nobel Prize (1998) - Herbert Gasser, physiologist, Nobel Prize (1945) (Jewish father)
- Alfred G. GilmanAlfred G. GilmanAlfred Goodman Gilman is an American pharmacologist and biochemist. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Martin Rodbell for their discoveries regarding G-proteins....
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1994) - Joseph L. GoldsteinJoseph L. GoldsteinJoseph L. Goldstein from Kingstree, South Carolina is a Nobel Prize winning biochemist and geneticist, and a pioneer in the study of cholesterol metabolism.-Biography:...
, molecular geneticist, Nobel Prize (1985) - Paul GreengardPaul GreengardPaul Greengard is an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 2000, Greengard, Arvid Carlsson and Eric Kandel were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous...
, neuroscientist, Nobel Prize (2000) - Stephen Jay GouldStephen Jay GouldStephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
, evolutionary biologist & writer - Michael HeidelbergerMichael HeidelbergerMichael Heidelberger was an American immunologist who is regarded as the father of modern immunology. He and Oswald Avery showed that the polysaccharides of pneumococcus are antigens, enabling him to show that antibodies are proteins...
, immunochemist - H. Robert HorvitzH. Robert HorvitzHoward Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.-Life:Horvitz did his undergraduate studies at MIT in 1968, where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi...
, biologist, Nobel Prize (2002) - Jerome Horowitz, AZT
- Eric R. KandelEric R. KandelEric Richard Kandel is an American neuropsychiatrist who was a recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons...
, neuroscientist, Nobel Prize (2000) - Charles KelmanCharles KelmanCharles D. Kelman was an ophthalmologist and a pioneer in cataract surgery.Kelman was born in Brooklyn, New York to David and Eva Kelman. He grew up in Queens where he attended Forest Hills High School. After graduation, he attended Boston's Tufts University, where he earned a B.S...
, cataract surgery - Albert KligmanAlbert KligmanAlbert Montgomery Kligman was a dermatologist who invented Retin-A, the popular acne medication.-Biography:Kligman was born in Philadelphia to poor Jewish immigrants, his father from Ukraine and mother from England...
, dermatologist - Arthur KornbergArthur KornbergArthur Kornberg was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959 for his discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid " together with Dr. Severo Ochoa of New York University...
, DNA replication, Nobel Prize (1959) - Roger Kornberg, RNA transcription, Nobel Prize (2006) (son of Arthur Kornberg)
- Eric LanderEric LanderEric Steven Lander is a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , a member of the Whitehead Institute, and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard who has devoted his career toward realizing the promise of the human genome for medicine. He is co-chair of U.S...
, Human Genome Project - Esther LederbergEsther LederbergEsther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg was an American microbiologist and immunologist and pioneer of bacterial genetics...
, geneticist - Joshua LederbergJoshua LederbergJoshua Lederberg ForMemRS was an American molecular biologist known for his work in microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, and the United States space program. He was just 33 years old when he won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that bacteria can mate and...
, molecular biologist, Nobel Prize (1958) - Richard LernerRichard LernerRichard A. Lerner is an American research chemist. Best known for his work on catalytic antibodies, Lerner is currently President of The Scripps Research Institute , and a member of its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, in La Jolla, California.-Biography:Lerner grew up in Chicago and...
, therapeutic antibodies - Rita Levi-MontalciniRita Levi-MontalciniRita Levi-Montalcini , Knight Grand Cross is an Italian neurologist who, together with colleague Stanley Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of nerve growth factor...
, neurologist, Nobel Prize (1986) - Richard LewontinRichard LewontinRichard Charles "Dick" Lewontin is an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, he pioneered the notion of using techniques from molecular biology such as gel electrophoresis to...
, evolutionary biologist - Fritz Lipmann, coenzyme A, Nobel Prize (1953)
- Otto LoewiOtto LoewiOtto Loewi was a German born pharmacologist whose discovery of acetylcholine helped enhance medical therapy. The discovery earned for him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936 which he shared with Sir Henry Dale, whom he met in 1902 when spending some months in Ernest Starling's...
, acetylcholine, Nobel Prize (1936) - Abraham LowAbraham LowAbraham Low , was a Jewish-American neuropsychiatrist noted for his work establishing self-help programs for the mentally ill, and criticism of Freudian psychoanalysis. He was born February 28, 1891 in Baranów Sandomierski, Poland....
, neuropsychiatrist, Recovery International founder - Salvador Luria, bacterial evolution, Nobel Prize (1969)
- Lynn MargulisLynn MargulisLynn Margulis was an American biologist and University Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is best known for her theory on the origin of eukaryotic organelles, and her contributions to the endosymbiotic theory, which is now generally accepted...
, Gaia theory - Matthew MeselsonMatthew MeselsonMatthew Stanley Meselson is an American geneticist and molecular biologist whose research was important in showing how DNA replicates, recombines and is repaired in cells. In his mature years, he has been an active chemical and biological weapons activist and consultant...
, DNA replication - A. L. MestelA. L. MestelAscher Lawrence Mestel is a pediatric surgeon who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the pioneers in the field of pediatric surgery and is widely published. He is especially well known for the groundbreaking first successful separation of Ischiopagus Tripus conjoined twins.From 1944-1946...
, pediatric surgeon, separation of conjoined twins (1968) - Otto Meyerhof, glycolysis, Nobel Prize (1922)
- Stanley MillerStanley MillerStanley Lloyd Miller was an American chemist and biologist who is known for his studies into the origin of life, particularly the Miller–Urey experiment which demonstrated that organic compounds can be created by fairly simple physical processes from inorganic substances...
, Miller-Urey experiment - Hermann MullerHermann MüllerHermann Müller may refer to:* Hermann Müller , German botanist with whom Darwin corresponded* Hermann Müller , Swiss botanist...
, geneticist, Nobel Prize (1946) (Jewish mother) - Daniel NathansDaniel NathansDaniel Nathans was an American microbiologist.He was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the last of nine children born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. During the Great Depression his father lost his small business and was unemployed for a long period of time...
, microbiologist, Nobel Prize (1978) - Marshall Nirenberg, genetic code, Nobel Prize (1968)
- Gregory Pincus, contraceptive pill
- Karl PribramKarl H. PribramKarl H. Pribram is a professor at Georgetown University, in the United States, and an emeritus professor of psychology and psychiatry at Stanford University and Radford University...
, neurologist - Stanley Prusiner, neurologist, Nobel Prize (1997)
- Martin RodbellMartin RodbellMartin Rodbell was an American biochemist and molecular endocrinologist who is best known for his discovery of G-proteins. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Alfred G...
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1994) - Albert SabinAlbert SabinAlbert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...
, oral polio vaccine - Jonas SalkJonas SalkJonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
, polio vaccine - Andrew V. Schally, endocrinologist, Nobel Prize (1977)
- Albert SchatzAlbert Schatz (scientist)Albert Schatz was the co-discoverer of streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy used to treat tuberculosis and a number of other diseases...
, streptomycin - Béla SchickBéla SchickBéla Schick , was a Hungarian-born American pediatrician. He is the founder of the Schick test. Was born in Balatonboglár, Hungary, and brought up in Graz, Austria, where he attended medical school. In 1902 he joined the Medicine Faculty of the University of Viennawhere he remained until 1923...
, diphtheria test - Rudolf Schoenheimer, radioactive tracers
- Leo SternbachLeo SternbachLeo Henryk Sternbach was a Polish-Jewish chemist who is credited with discovering benzodiazepines, main class of tranquilizers.-Biography:...
, valium - Howard Temin, reverse transcriptase, Nobel Prize (1975)
- Max TishlerMax TishlerMax Tishler was a scientist at Merck & Co. who led the research teams that synthesized ascorbic acid, riboflavin, cortisone, miamin, pyridoxin, pantothenic acid, nicotinamide, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan...
, synthetic vitamins - Harold Varmus, virologist, Nobel Prize (1989)
- George WaldGeorge WaldGeorge Wald was an American scientist who is best known for his work with pigments in the retina. He won a share of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Haldan Keffer Hartline and Ragnar Granit.- Research :...
, retina pigmentation, Nobel Prize (1967) - Selman WaksmanSelman WaksmanSelman Abraham Waksman was an American biochemist and microbiologist whose research into organic substances—largely into organisms that live in soil—and their decomposition promoted the discovery of Streptomycin, and several other antibiotics...
, streptomycin, Nobel Prize (1952) - Charles WeissmannCharles WeissmannCharles Weissmann is a Hungarian-born Swiss molecular biologist.Weissmann went to Zurich University and obtained his MD in 1956 and Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry in 1961. Weissmann was director of the Institute for Molecular Biology in Zurich, President of the Roche Research Foundation and...
, interferon cloning - Alexander S. WienerAlexander S. WienerAlexander Solomon Wiener , a lifelong resident of New York City, was recognized internationally for his contributions to medicine. He was an outstanding leader in the fields of forensic medicine, serology, and immunogenetics. His pioneer work led to discovery of the Rh factor in 1937, along with Dr...
hematologist and co-discoverer of the Rh factorRhesus blood group systemThe Rh blood group system is one of thirty current human blood group systems. Clinically, it is the most important blood group system after ABO. At Present, the Rh blood group system consists of 50 defined blood-group antigens, among which the 5 antigens D, C, c, E, and e are the most important... - Rosalyn Yalow, medical physicist, Nobel Prize (1977)
- Charles YanofskyCharles Yanofsky- External links :* *...
, geneticist