# Marvin Louis Lewbart

Marvin Louis Lewbart (May 28, 1929 – April 5, 2023) was an American physician and scientist who worked in steroid chemistry, molecular biology, and biochemistry. His work contributed to advancements in biochemical research, particularly in steroidal glyoxals and molecular structures.

## Early life and education

Lewbart was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied pharmacy at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1951 and a Master of Science in 1953. He obtained a Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College in 1957 and a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Minnesota. He completed an internship at Lankenau Hospital in 1958. At Jefferson, he was mentored by Dr. John Schneider, whom he credited as a key influence in his academic development.

## Career and research

Dr. Lewbart conducted research in steroid chemistry and molecular biology, with a focus on steroidal reactions and molecular structures. His first paper, published in Nature in 1955, examined steroid paper chromatography. He worked with Nobel Laureate Tadeus Reichstein at the University of Basel, publishing two papers together on compounds isolated from the tropical plant, Gangronema gazense.
He worked for the Franklin Mint and conducted research in labs at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Voorhees, New Jersey. He continued his research until his retirement at age 90 in 2019.
Lewbart held multiple patents in biochemistry and molecular biology, with his findings focusing on steroid chemistry applications in medicine.

## Academic contributions

Dr. Lewbart was awarded the Henry Keller Mohler Memorial Prize for undergraduate excellence in therapeutics in 1957. He presented research on steroid conjugates at the Laurentian Hormone Conference, co-authoring "Fractionation and Isolation of Steroid Conjugates" with Dr. John J. Schneider. His work on steroid glucuronosides and sulphates contributed to the development of paper chromatography techniques for separating steroid conjugates.

## Personal life

Lewbart played semi-professional baseball and was nicknamed "Lefty" due to his left-handedness. His father, Abraham, played basketball for the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, a precursor to the Philadelphia 76ers. He was married to Virginia Whiteford and later partnered with Barbara Langford and Elaine Barlow. He had four sons: Gregory, Daniel, Randolph, and Keith.

## Death

Dr. Lewbart died on April 5, 2023, at the age of 93. He was buried at Crescent Memorial Park in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

## Award

* Henry Keller Mohler Memorial Prize (1957) for undergraduate excellence in therapeutics.

## Selected patents

* "U.S. Patent Application for steroid tetrol solid state forms Patent Application (Application #20090143349 issued June 4, 2009) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent Application for 7-Hydroxy-16alpha-fluoro-5-androsten-17-ones and 7-hydroxy-16alpha-fluoro-5-androstan-17-ones and derivatives thereof Patent Application (Application #20040034003 issued February 19, 2004) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Derivatives of 5-androsten-17-ones and 5-androstan-17-ones Patent (Patent # 5,804,576 issued September 8, 1998) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Steroids useful as anti-cancer and anti-obesity agents Patent (Patent # 5,744,462 issued April 28, 1998) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Derivatives of 5-androsten-17 ones and 5-androstan-17-ones Patent (Patent # 5,714,481 issued February 3, 1998) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Steroids useful as anti-cancer and anti-obesity agents Patent (Patent # 5,700,793 issued December 23, 1997) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Steroids useful as anti-cancer and anti-obesity agents Patent (Patent # 5,696,106 issued December 9, 1997) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Steroids useful as anti-cancer and anti-obesity agents Patent (Patent # 5,656,621 issued August 12, 1997) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.>
* "U.S. Patent for 5 .alpha.-pregnan-20-ones and 5-pregnen-20-ones and related compounds Patent (Patent # 5,175,154 issued December 29, 1992) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* "U.S. Patent for Method for prophylaxis of obesity Patent (Patent # 5,157,031 issued October 20, 1992) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
* EP0246650A1, Schwartz, Arthur G. & Lewbart, Marvin Louis, "Steroids useful as anti-cancer and anti-obesity agents, a therapeutic composition containing them and use thereof for the preparation of a therapeutic composition", issued 1987-11-25
* "U.S. Patent for 16-substituted androstanes and 16-substituted androstenes Patent (Patent # 5,001,119 issued March 19, 1991) - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
* DK259387D0, Schwartz, Arthur G. & Lewbart, Marvin Louis, "Steroide forbindelser, der er virksomme mod kraeft og obesitet", issued 1987-05-21
* GR862043B, Arthur, Schwartz & Louis, Lewbart Marvin, "Steroids useful as anti-cancer anti-obesity anti-hyperglycemic anti-autoimmune and anti-hypercholesterolemic agents", issued 1986-12-24

## Selected publications

* Schwartz, Arthur G (2022). "Dehydroepiandrosterone, Cancer, and Aging". Aging and Disease. 13 (2): 423–432. doi:10.14336/AD.2021.0913. ISSN 2152-5250. PMC 8947821. PMID 35371612.
* Graf, Martin R.; Jia, Wentao; Lewbart, Marvin L.; Loria, Roger M. (December 2009). "The Anti-tumor Effects of Androstene Steroids Exhibit a Strict Structure–Activity Relationship Dependent upon the Orientation of the Hydroxyl Group on Carbon-17". Chemical Biology & Drug Design. 74 (6): 625–629. doi:10.1111/j.1747-0285.2009.00900.x. ISSN 1747-0277. PMID 19824892.
* Schwartz, Arthur G.; Whitcomb, Jeannette M.; Nyce, Jonathan W.; Lewbart, Marvin L.; Pashko, Laura L. (1988-01-01), Klein, George; Weinhouse, Sidney (eds.), "Dehydroepiandrosterone and Structural Analogs: A New Class of Cancer Chemopreventive Agents", Advances in Cancer Research, 51, Academic Press: 391–424, doi:10.1016/s0065-230x(08)60227-4, ISBN 978-0-12-006651-3, PMID 2975913, retrieved 2025-02-06
* Whitnall, Mark H.; Villa, Vilmar; Seed, Thomas M.; Benjack, James; Miner, Venita; Lewbart, Marvin L.; Dowding, Charles A.; Jackson III., William E. (2005-01-01). "Molecular Specificity of 5-Androstenediol as a Systemic Radioprotectant in Mice". Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology. 27 (1): 15–32. doi:10.1081/IPH-51289. ISSN 0892-3973. PMID 15803857.
* Schwartz, Arthur G.; Pashko, Laura L.; Hastings, Laura A.; Whitcomb, Jeannette H.; Lewbart, Marvin L. (1988), Feo, Francesco; Pani, Paolo; Columbano, Amedeo; Garcea, Renato (eds.), "Chemoprevention of Experimental Tumorigenesis by Dehydroepiandrosterone and Structural Analogs", Chemical Carcinogenesis: Models and Mechanisms, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 361–368, doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9640-7_41, ISBN 978-1-4757-9640-7, retrieved 2025-02-05
* Schwartz, Arthur G.; Lewbart, Marvin L.; Pashko, Laura L. (1988-09-01). "Novel Dehydroepiandrosterone Analogues with Enhanced Biological Activity and Reduced Side Effects in Mice and Rats1". Cancer Research. 48 (17): 4817–4822. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 2970293.
* Lewbart, Marvin L.; Elverson, Robert A. (August 1982). "Determination of urinary free cortisol and cortisone by sequential thin layer and high-performance liquid chromatography". Journal of Steroid Biochemistry. 17 (2): 185–190. doi:10.1016/0022-4731(82)90120-0. PMID 6287108.
* Lewbart, Marvin L. (1972). "Reactions of .alpha.-ketolic and other 21-hydroxy steroids with phosgene. I. Preparation and properties of bis(pregnan-21-yl)carbonates and 17,21-cyclic carbonates". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 37 (24): 3892–3898. doi:10.1021/jo00797a027. ISSN 0022-3263. PMID 4642386.
* Lewbart, Marvin L. (May 1969). "Spontaneous Oxidation of Steroidal 11ß-ols to 11-Ketones in the Crystalline State". Nature. 222 (5194): 663–664. doi:10.1038/222663a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 5768274.
* Schneider, John J.; Lewbart, Marvin L. (January 1968). "Paper chromatographic evaluation of the contribution to polarity of hydroxyl and other groups at the C-17, C-20 and C-21 positions of the pregnane side chain". Journal of Chromatography A. 35 (2): 287–292. doi:10.1016/S0021-9673(01)82386-4. PMID 5657929.
* "Preparation of the 6a-Hydroxylated 5@-Pregnan-20-ols, 17a,20-Glycols, 20,21-Glycols, and 17a,20,21-Glycerols Epimeric at C-20".
* Lewbart, Marvin L.; Schneider, John J. (October 1964). "Glycolic Acid Metabolites of Desoxycorticosterone. Assignment of Configuration at C-20 1". The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 29 (9): 2559–2566. doi:10.1021/jo01032a017. ISSN 0022-3263.
* Lewbart, Marvin Louis; Lewbart, Marvin Loui (1962-01-01). "Formation and reactions of steroidal glyoxals I Reactions of -Ketolic steroids with methanolic cupric acetate II The mechanism of the Porter-Silber reaction". Dissertation Abstracts: 2572. ISSN 0099-3123.
* Mattox, Vernon R.; Lewbart, Marvin L. (1959-09-01). "The determination of albostreone in urine". The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 19 (9): 1151–1161. doi:10.1210/jcem-19-9-1151. ISSN 0021-972X.
* Lewbart, Marvin L.; Schneider, John J. (December 1955). "Paper Chromatography of Steroid Glucuronosides and Sulphates". Nature. 176 (4494): 1175. Bibcode:1955Natur.176.1175L. doi:10.1038/1761175a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 13288573.