William Henry Howell
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physiologist. He pioneered the use of heparin
Heparin
Heparin , also known as unfractionated heparin, a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan, is widely used as an injectable anticoagulant, and has the highest negative charge density of any known biological molecule...
as a blood anti-coagulant.
William Henry Howell was born in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from the Baltimore City College
Baltimore City College
The Baltimore City College , also referred to as The Castle on the Hill, historically as The College, and most commonly City, is a public high school in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. The City College curriculum includes the International Baccalaureate Programme and emphasizes study in the classics...
high school in 1878. He was educated at Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, from which he graduated in 1881. He taught at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
before becoming professor at Johns Hopkins in 1893. He was dean of the medical school from 1899 to 1911.
Dr Howell contributed to the London Journal of Physiology, the Transactions of the Royal Society, the Johns Hopkins Biological Studies, the Journal of Morphology, and the Journal of Experimental Medicine. He was associate editor of the American Journal of Physiology after 1898. He wrote Text-Book of Physiology (1905; fifth edition, 1913).