Roger C. L. Guillemin, MD, PhD, a Fellow of the AACR Academy who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for his work in neuroendocrinology, died February 21, 2024, at the age of 100.
Guillemin won the Nobel for co-discoveries that led to an understanding of hypothalamic hormone production in the brain. He shared one-half the prize with the late Andrew V. Schally, PhD, also a Fellow of the AACR Academy. Rosalyn Yalow, PhD, received the other half for separate but related discoveries on peptide hormones.
Guillemin was born in Dijon, France, on January 11, 1924. In his early years, his medical studies in his native France were interrupted by World War II, during which he joined the French Resistance and helped Allied pilots and other persons escape to Switzerland. Guillemin earned his medical degree from the University of Lyon in 1949 and his doctorate from the University of Montreal in 1953.
From 1953 to 1970, Guillemin was a professor of physiology at Baylor College of Medicine. From 1970 to 1989, he was a professor of neuroendocrinology at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies. From October 2007 to February 2009, he served as interim president of The Salk Institute.
Long considered one of the founders of the field of neuroendocrinology, Guillemin worked for years to identify hormones released by the hypothalamus, which were believed to control pituitary function in the brain.
His group isolated thyrotropin-releasing hormone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, somatostatin, and somatocrinin. These discoveries helped in the development of treatments for pituitary tumors, prostate cancer, and a wide range of diseases and conditions. Guillemin was also the first to isolate a group of neuropeptides called endorphins, which have a variety of roles, including in the perception of pain.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Guillemin was recognized with the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, in 1973. He received the Gairdner International Award in 1974, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 1975, and the National Medal of Science, the Passano Award in the Medical Sciences, and the Dickson Prize in Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, all in 1976.
Guillemin was elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013. He was also an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences.
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