Basil Hirschowitz

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Basil Isaac Hirschowitz (29 May 1925 – 19 January 2013) was an academic gastroenterologist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) best known in the field for having invented an improved optical fiber which allowed the creation of a useful flexible endoscope. This invention revolutionized the practice of gastroenterology and also was a key invention in optical fiber communication in multiple industries.Black, Hank. [http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=49285 "The Enlightening Endoscope: A Tool That Transformed GI Care."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013192905/http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=49285 |date=13 October 2007 }} - UAB Magazine, Fall 1997, Volume 17, Number 4.

Hirschowitz was born in Bethal, South Africa. He received his medical education at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. It was from this institution that he earned M.B. and B.Ch. degrees in 1947. He received Postdoctoral training from University of the Witwatersrand, earning an M.D. degree.

In 1953 he moved to the United States, where he continued his gastrointestinal fellowship at the University of Michigan and joined the faculty between 1954 and 1957.

Hirschowitz became a naturalized citizen of the US in 1961.The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Alabama Academy in 1991. [http://www.archives.state.al.us/famous/academy/b_hirsch.html Basil Isaac Hirschowitz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120161322/http://www.archives.state.al.us/famous/academy/b_hirsch.html |date=20 November 2008 }}

File:Flexibles Endoskop.jpg

Among his many awards, Basil Hirschowitz received the Schindler Medal of the ASGE, the Friedenwald Medal of the AGA (1992),American Gastroenterological Association. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180909000341/https://www.gastro.org/user-assets/Documents/07_Membership/Rec_Prizes/desc_Friedenwald_Medal.pdf Julius Friedenwald Medal]. the General Motors Cancer Research Awards Kettering Prize (1987),[http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/59/7_Supplement/1673s.pdf Laureates General Motors Cancer Research Awards] the UAB Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Science of Medicine. The Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame honors Dr. Basil Hirschowitz for reaching the pinnacle of academic medicine as a teacher, scientist, and clinician. In 2006 he became M.D.h.c (Honorary Doctor of Medicine) at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Groll-Hirschowitz syndrome — a rare genetic condition characterized by gastrointestinal abnormalities, deafness and neuropathy.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/g/groll_hirschowitz_syndrome/intro.htm|title=Groll-Hirschowitz syndrome Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatments and Causes - RightDiagnosis.com|website=wrongdiagnosis.com|access-date=2017-11-21}} It is named in honour of B. Hirschowitz and A. Groll, who first described the condition.Hirschowitz BI, Groll A, Ceballos R. Hereditary nerve deafness in 3 sisters with absent gastric motility, small bowel diverticulitis and ulceration and progressive sensory neuropathy. Birth Defects Orig Art Ser. 1972; 8: 27–41.

Hirschowitz died in Birmingham, Alabama on 19 January 2013.{{cite web | url=http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Basil-Hirschowitz&lc=4388&pid=162529732&mid=5389121&locale=en-US | title=In Memory of Dr. Basil Isaac Hirschowitz | publisher=Dignity Memorial | accessdate=21 January 2013 }}