Robert F. Furchgott 474991 225279149 2008-07-12T21:17:38Z GregorB 179697 /* References */ Link fmt {{Infobox Scientist |name = Robert Francis Furchgott |box_width = |image =Drfurchgott.jpg |image_width =150px |caption = Robert Francis Furchgott |birth_date = [[June 4]], [[1916]] (age 92) |birth_place = [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]] |death_date = |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = [[United States]] |ethnicity = |field = [[biochemistry]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = [[Image:Nobel prize medal.svg|20px]][[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in [[1998]] |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} '''Robert Francis Furchgott''' (born [[June 4]], [[1916]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]]) is a [[Nobel Prize]]-winning [[United States|American]] [[biochemist]]. Furchgott graduated with a degree in chemistry in [[1937]] from the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]], received his [[Ph.D]] in biochemistry at [[Northwestern University]] in [[1940]]. He was faculty member of [[Washington University School of Medicine]] from 1949 to 1956. From [[1956]] to [[1988]], he was professor of [[pharmacology]] at the [[State University of New York Downstate Medical Center]]. In [[1978]], Furchgott discovered a substance in [[endothelium|endothelial cells]] that relaxes [[blood vessel]]s, calling it [[endothelium-derived relaxing factor]] (EDRF). By [[1986]], he had worked out EDRF's nature and mechanism of action, and determined that EDRF was in fact [[nitric oxide]] (NO), an important compound in many aspects of cardiovascular physiology. This research was important in the creation of [[Viagra]]. Aside from the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] he received in [[1998]], Furchgott has also received a [[Gairdner Foundation International Award]] for his groundbreaking discoveries ([[1991]]) and the [[Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research]] ([[1996]]), the latter with [[Ferid Murad]]. [[As of 2006]], Furchgott lives in [[Brooklyn]] and has three children. He continues to serve as a professor emeritus at the [[State University of New York Downstate Medical Center]]. ==References== *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:11071225 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11071225 |last=Raju |first=T N |publication-date=2000 Jul 22 |year=[[2000]] |title=The Nobel chronicles. 1998: Robert Francis Furchgott (b 1911), Louis J Ignarro (b 1941), and Ferid Murad (b 1936). |volume=356 |issue=9226 |periodical=[[The_Lancet|Lancet]] |pages=346 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:10065255 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10065255 |last=Rabelink |first=A J |publication-date=1998 Dec 26 |year=[[1998]] |title=Nobel prize in Medicine and Physiology 1998 for the discovery of the role of nitric oxide as a signalling molecule |volume=142 |issue=52 |periodical=Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde |pages=2828-30 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:9893684 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9893684 |last=Laufs |first=U |last2=Erdmann |first2=E |publication-date=1998 Dec 18 |year=[[1998]] |title=Nitric oxide as a signal molecule in the cardiovascular system. Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1998 |volume=123 |issue=51-52 |periodical=Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. |pages=1562-5 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:9889673 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9889673 |last=Hansson |first=G K |last2=Jörnvall |first2=H |last3=Lindahl |first3=S G |publication-date=1998 Dec 21 |year=[[1998]] |title=The Nobel Prize 1998 in physiology or medicine. Nitrogen oxide as a signal molecule in the cardiovascular system |volume=160 |issue=52 |periodical=Ugeskr. Laeg. |pages=7571-8 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:9889670 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9889670 |last=Nielsen |first=T T |last2=Sørensen |first2=K E |publication-date=1998 Dec 21 |year=[[1998]] |title=Discovery of "endogenous nitroglycerin", NO, as cellular signal molecule |volume=160 |issue=52 |periodical=Ugeskr. Laeg. |pages=7567 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:9831980 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9831980 |last=Mitka |first=M |publication-date=1998 Nov 18 |year=[[1998]] |title=1998 Nobel Prize winners are announced: three discoverers of nitric oxide activity. |volume=280 |issue=19 |periodical=[[Journal of the American Medical Association|JAMA]] |pages=1648 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:9821753 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9821753 |last=Hansson |first=G K |last2=Jörnvall |first2=H |last3=Lindahl |first3=S G |publication-date=1998 Oct 21 |year=[[1998]] |title=1998 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Nitric oxide as a signal molecule in the cardiovascular system |volume=95 |issue=43 |periodical=Lakartidningen |pages=4703-8 }} *{{Citation |id = [[PMID]]:8827976 |url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8827976 |last=Furchgott |first=R F |publication-date=1996 Oct 9 |year=[[1996]] |title=The 1996 Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards. The discovery of endothelium-derived relaxing factor and its importance in the identification of nitric oxide. |volume=276 |issue=14 |periodical=[[Journal of the American Medical Association|JAMA]] |pages=1186-8 }} ==External links== *[http://www.downstate.edu/RFFS/ The Robert F. Furchgott Society] *[http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1998/furchgott-autobio.html Furchgott's autobiography] (until 1998, at nobelprize.org) *[http://www.downstate.edu/pharmacology/faculty/furchgott.html His laboratory's webpage] {{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1976-2000}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Furchgott, Robert F.}} [[Category:1916 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American biochemists]] [[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]] [[Category:American pharmacologists]] [[Category:People from Charleston, South Carolina]] {{US-biochemist-stub}} [[ca:Robert Francis Furchgott]] [[cs:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[de:Robert Francis Furchgott]] [[es:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[hr:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[id:Robert Francis Furchgott]] [[it:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[nl:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[ja:ロバート・ファーチゴット]] [[pl:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[pt:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[ru:Ферчготт, Роберт]] [[fi:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[sv:Robert F. Furchgott]] [[zh:羅伯·佛契哥特]]