Abraham White

The Abraham White Lifetime Scientific, Humanitarian, and Public Service Award has been established by the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as a way of honoring individuals who have made unique contributions to science and medicine.
== History ==
Dr. Abraham White (1908-1980) gained international prominence in the fields of endocrinology, biochemistry, and immunology, and is considered to be the father of the field of Thymus|thymic endocrinology. 
Dr. White held a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Denver and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan. In 1948, he helped organize the University of California School of Medicine at Los Angeles and became University of California, Los Angeles first Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiological Chemistry. 
Dr. White had a key role in establishing the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York. With the benefit of his leadership and guidance, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine flourished. In 1953, he was the College of Medicine's first appointee as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Associate Dean. Dr. White remained at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine until his retirement as Chairman in 1972. 
Dr. White's textbook, Principles of Biochemistry⁠—of which he was the principal author, alongside Philip Handler and Emil L. Smith⁠—went through eight editions and was translated into many languages. It is euphemistically considered to be the "Bible of Biochemistry" and was the ultimate reference source for a number of medical and graduate students educated over a 30-year period. 
Dr. White's prominence in the field of medical education was only balanced by his outstanding scientific research accomplishments, which spanned a period of 50 years. He authored and co-authored over 200 original scientific papers and articles. He received the Eli Lilly Prize in Biochemistry for the 1936 report of the first isolation and purification of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). In 1937, Dr. White reported the first isolation and crystallization of pituitary hormone prolactin. In the period from 1942 to 1947, he and his close friend and associate Thomas F. Dougherty, were the first to document the degenerative change in Lymphocyte and the involution of Lymphatic system tissue induced by adrenocorticotropic Steroid. This observation led to the use of these compounds in the treatment of lymphoid tumors and as Immunosuppressive drug agents. In 1949, Dr. White demonstrated that rat thymic extracts induced Lymphopoiesis when injected into rats. Along with his colleague Sidney Roberts, Dr. White postulated that if Adrenal gland steroids caused involution of lymphoid tissue, then the latter, including the Thymus gland, might yield products which would suppress Pituitary gland and Adrenal cortex secretory activity via a feedback mechanism. These early studies suggesting a potential endocrine role of the thymus were not pursued until the demonstration of the consequences of neonatal thymectomy and the rebirth of interest in the thymus in the early 1960s. In 1964, Allan L. Goldstein joined Dr. White's laboratory. At this time, Dr. White renewed his efforts to characterize the hormones of the Thymus|thymus gland, which led to the first report of the isolation and partial purification of a thymic preparation in 1966, which they named "thymosin." In collaboration with Goldstein, studies from Dr. White's laboratory over the next decade helped to further characterize the important effects of thymic peptides on the maturation and function of lymphoid cells and on immune regulation. Dr. White's pioneering studies helped to provide the basis for the chemical characterization of thymosins. 
At the time of his death, Dr. White was a Distinguished Scientist at Syntex Research and Consulting Professor of Biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. White was a member of numerous learned scientific societies and was awarded many honors for his scientific and educational contributions.
== Scientific Awardees ==
1982: James E. Darnell, Jr., M.D.
1983: Robert Gallo, M.D.
1984: Bengt I. Samuelsson, D Med Sci, M.D., List of Nobel laureates
1985: Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate
1986: Michael Stuart Brown, M.D., Nobel Laureate
1986: Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D., Nobel Laureate
1987: Michael Berridge, Ph.D.
1988: Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, M.D., Nobel Laureate
1988: Clarence J. Gibbs, Jr., Ph.D.
1989: Alfred G. Gilman, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate
1990: Howard Martin Temin, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate
1991: Bengt I. Samuelsson, D Med Sci, M.D., Nobel Laureate
1992: Solomon H. Snyder, M.D.
1993: Tim Hunt, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate
1993: James Maller, Ph.D.
1994: Judah Folkman, M.D.
1994: Daniel Steinberg, M.D., Ph.D.
1995: William L. Smith, Ph.D.
2007: Arthur J. Ammann, M.D.
2007: Diane W. Wara, M.D.
2009: Hynda Kleinman, Ph.D.
2012: Deepak Srivastava, M.D.
2012: Luigina Romani, M.D., Ph.D.
2014: Michael Chopp, Ph.D.
2014: Barbara Ensoli, M.D., Ph.D.
2017: Enrico Garaci, M.D.
2017: Gabriel Sosne, M.D.
== Humanitarian Awardees ==
2009: Renato Martino
2012: Michael Stern (Posthumously)
== Public Service Awardees ==
1982: Alan Cranston
1983: John Glenn
1984: Bob Dole
1985: Lowell Weicker
1986: Mark Hatfield
1987: Al Gore
1988: Claude Pepper
1989: Tom Harkin
1992: Fritz Hollings
1993: Senator Barbara A. Mikulski
1994: Dr. David A. Kessler, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
2014: Professor Guido Rasi, M.D., Executive Director, European Medicines Agency
2017: Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.
Category:1908 births
Category:1980 deaths
Category:Humanitarians