Robert Lefkowitz

Lefkowitz was born on April 15, 1943, in The Bronx, New York to Jewish parents Max and Rose Lefkowitz. Their families had emigrated to the United States from Poland in the late 19th century.{{Cite journal | author=Ralph Snyderman | url=https://www.jci.org/articles/view/60816 | title=Introduction of Robert J. Lefkowitz | journal=The Journal of Clinical Investigation | publisher=Jci.org | date=October 3, 2011 | volume=121 | issue=10 | pages=4192–4300 | doi=10.1172/JCI60816 | pmid=21965339 | pmc=3195491 | access-date=October 12, 2012}}{{Cite web | author=Jay Price | date=December 30, 2012 | url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/30/2572990/dr-robert-lefkowitz-nobel-in-hand.html | title=Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel in hand, still shapes young researchers | publisher=News & Observer | access-date=January 17, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120205353/http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/30/2572990/dr-robert-lefkowitz-nobel-in-hand.html | archive-date=January 20, 2013 }}

After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science in 1959,{{cite news|url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/another-nobel-for-bronx-science-this-one-in-chemistry/ |newspaper=New York Times|title=Another Nobel for Bronx Science, This One in Chemistry |last=Newman|first=Andy|date=October 10, 2012}} he attended Columbia College from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1962.{{cite web |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/30/2572990/dr-robert-lefkowitz-nobel-in-hand.html |title=Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Nobel in hand, still shapes young researchers - Local/State - NewsObserver.com |access-date=January 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120205353/http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/30/2572990/dr-robert-lefkowitz-nobel-in-hand.html |archive-date=January 20, 2013 }} At Columbia, Lefkowitz studied under Ronald Breslow.{{Cite web |title=Columbia College mourns the loss of University Professor Ronald Breslow |url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/news/columbia-college-mourns-loss-university-professor-ronald-breslow |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Columbia College |language=en}}

He graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1966 with an M.D. degree. After serving an internship and one year of general medical residency at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, he served as clinical and research associate at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 1970.

Upon completing his medical residency and research and clinical training in 1973, he was appointed associate professor of medicine and assistant professor of biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center. In 1977, he was promoted to professor of medicine and in 1982 to James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University.{{Cite web | url=http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/lefkowitz_bio.html | title=HHMI Investigators – Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D | publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute | access-date=January 14, 2013}}

He is also a professor of biochemistry and a professor of chemistry. He has been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1976 and was an established investigator of the American Heart Association from 1973 to 1976.

Lefkowitz studies receptor biology and signal transduction and is most well known for his detailed characterizations of the sequence, structure and function of the β-adrenergic and related receptors and for the discovery and characterization of the two families of proteins which regulate them, the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) kinases and β-arrestins.{{cite web|title= Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D. Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/#interview}}

Lefkowitz made a remarkable contribution in the mid-1980s when he and his colleagues cloned the gene first for the β-adrenergic receptor, and then rapidly thereafter, for a total of 8 adrenergic receptors (receptors for adrenaline and noradrenaline). This led to the seminal discovery that all GPCRs (which include the β-adrenergic receptor) have a very similar molecular structure. The structure is defined by an amino acid sequence which weaves its way back and forth across the plasma membrane seven times. Today we know that about 1,000 receptors in the human body belong to this same family. The importance of this is that all of these receptors use the same basic mechanisms so that pharmaceutical researchers now understand how to effectively target the largest receptor family in the human body. Today, as many as 30 to 50 percent of all prescription drugs are designed to "fit" like keys into the similarly structured locks of Lefkowitz' receptors—everything from anti-histamines to ulcer drugs to beta blockers that help relieve hypertension, angina and coronary disease.{{cite news |title=Pioneers of cell receptor research share America's top prize in medicine

|url=http://www.amc.edu/PR/PressRelease/PR_705.html |work=Albany Medical Center Website}} Lefkowitz is among the most highly cited researchers in the fields of biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical medicine according to Thomson-ISI.{{cite web |url=http://hcr3.webofknowledge.com/author.cgi?id=16 |title=Highly Cited Research – Research Analytics – Thomson Reuters |publisher=Hcr3.webofknowledge.com |date=December 31, 2011 |access-date=October 12, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Lefkowitz is married to Lynn (née Tilley). He has five children and six grandchildren. He was previously married to Arna Brandel.

In 2021, Lefkowitz published a memoir entitled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm: The Adrenaline-Fueled Adventures of an Accidental Scientist.{{Cite web|title=A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm|url=http://pegasusbooks.com/books/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-stockholm-9781643136387-hardcover|access-date=March 31, 2021|website=pegasusbooks.com}} This book was co-authored by Randy Hall, who was a post-doctoral fellow in the Lefkowitz lab in the 1990s. The book describes Lefkowitz's early life, training as a physician, and tenure in the United States Public Health Service (the "Yellow Berets" of the NIH), which began as a means of fulfilling his draft obligation during the Vietnam War but ultimately ignited a lifelong passion for research. The second half of the book describes Lefkowitz's research career and various adventures both before and after his Nobel Prize win. Upon publication in February 2021, the book was named as "New & Noteworthy" by The New York Times{{Cite news|date=February 2, 2021|title=New & Noteworthy, From Food Policy to Communicating With the Dead|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/books/review/new-this-week.html|access-date=March 31, 2021|issn=0362-4331}} and "one of the week's best science picks" by Nature.{{Cite journal|last=Robinson|first=Andrew|date=March 17, 2021|title=The accidental Nobel laureate, what we owe to our voices and the philosophy of touch: Books in Brief|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=591|issue=7850|pages=364|doi=10.1038/d41586-021-00661-4|bibcode=2021Natur.591..364R|doi-access=free}}

Lefkowitz has received numerous awards including:

• 2014 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}
• 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (shared with Brian Kobilka)
• 2009 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, in the Biomedicine Category.{{Cite web | url=http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2009/biomedicina.jsp | title=Biomedicine 2009 Robert J. Lefkowitz | publisher=BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards | access-date=January 14, 2013 | archive-date=March 17, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317213859/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/tlfu/ing/microsites/premios/fronteras/galardonados/2009/biomedicina.jsp | url-status=dead }}
• 2009 Research Achievement Award, American Heart Association{{cite news | title=North Carolina scientist wins American Heart Association award for discovering receptors' role as specific targets for drug therapy | url=http://newsroom.heart.org/news/874 | publisher=American Heart Association | date=November 15, 2009 | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 2007 National Medal of Science{{Cite web | title=Robert Lefkowitz receiving the National Medal of Science | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csDTzytNNDI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/csDTzytNNDI |archive-date=December 21, 2021 |url-status=live| publisher=Duke University | date=September 28, 2008 | access-date=January 14, 2013}}{{cbignore}} – YouTube video of the ceremony{{Cite web | author=Duke Medicine News and Communications | title=Duke Medicine Physician-Scientist Receives National Medal of Science | url=http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/news/10383 | publisher=Duke Health.org | date=September 28, 2008 | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 2007 The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine {{Cite web | title=Announcement and Citation | url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=50&threeid=59&fourid=83 | publisher=The Shaw Prize | date=June 12, 2007 | access-date=January 14, 2013 | archive-date=April 7, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407080440/http://shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=50&threeid=59&fourid=83 | url-status=dead }}
• 2007 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research{{Cite web | title=Albany Medical Center Prize | url=http://www.amc.edu/academic/albanyprize/recipients.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717234658/http://www.amc.edu/academic/albanyprize/recipients.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 17, 2012 | work=Albany Medical College | access-date=January 14, 2013 }}
• 2003 Fondation Lefoulon – Delalande Grand Prix for Science – Institut de France{{Cite web | title=Fondation Lefoulon Delalande – Historique des prix | url=http://www.institut-de-france.fr/prixmecenat/lefoulon/prix/historique_gp.html | publisher=Fondation Lefoulon – Delalande | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 2001 Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal of the USA – The National Academy of Sciences{{Cite web | title=Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal | url=http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/awards/kovalenko-medal.html | work=National Academy of Sciences | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 1992 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement In Cardiovascular Research{{Cite web | url=https://www.bms.com/about-us/our-company/achievements.html | title=Bristol Myers Squib Achievements | publisher=Bristol-Myers Squibb | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 1988 Gairdner Foundation International Award{{Cite web | url=http://www.gairdner.org/content/robert-j-lefkowitz | title=Robert J. Lefkowitz | publisher=Gairdner | access-date=January 14, 2013}}
• 1978 John Jacob Abel Award in Pharmacology{{Cite web | url=http://www.aspet.org/uploadedFiles/Awards_and_Fellowships/ASPET_Awards/AWARD%20WINNERS.pdf | title=Previous Winners of Society Awards | publisher=American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics | access-date=January 14, 2013}}

• List of Jewish Nobel laureates

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite web

| url=http://www.lefkolab.org/

| title=Lefkowitz Lab

| access-date=January 14, 2013

}} – Web site of his lab.

• {{cite web | title=Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD | website=HHMI | url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/robert-j-lefkowitz | access-date=23 February 2024}}
• {{YouTube|HYbqQaaOw94|Robert Lefkowitz – National Medal of Science}}
• {{Nobelprize}}
• {{cite book | last=Lefkowitz | first=Robert J. | title=A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm | publisher=Pegasus Books | date=2021-02-02 | isbn=978-1-64313-638-7}}

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Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry

Category:American Nobel laureates

Category:American biochemists

Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent

Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni

Category:Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni

Category:Duke University School of Medicine faculty

Category:Howard Hughes Medical Investigators

Category:Jewish American scientists

Category:Jewish chemists

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Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni

Category:Scientists from the Bronx

Category:Fellows of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine