Who is John West?
From the Himalayas to Space
John B. West was born in
Adelaide, Australia, in 1928. He has been interested in science for as
long as he can remember. Already in high school he was carrying out simple
chemical experiments at home and building radios. It was in his last years
of high school that he fell in love with physics and chemistry. He wasn’t
able to study biology because those were the days before biology was
taught in his high school.
Medical School in Other Countries
John attended high school
in Adelaide, although it was called Prince Alfred College. It was one of
the better schools in Adelaide and one of his uncles was on the teaching
faculty. He then attended Adelaide University, which in his day was the
only university in the state of South Australia. He went straight from
high school into medical school (called the faculty of medicine). This was
the system at Adelaide University at the time. It is also the procedure in
many other parts of the world where students go from high school (or
gymnasium as it’s called) into medicine or some other science. However,
John did not become interested in physiology in medical school, partly
because it was badly taught.
Finding Physiology
After receiving his
degree, Dr. West moved from Adelaide to London, UK. He made the move after
a year, because research programs in medicine were not well developed in
Adelaide at the time and because he wanted to see the world. It was while
he was doing his postgraduate training there that he realized that his
interests were in mechanics, such as pressures, flows, resistances,
elasticity, etc. This led him to the natural conclusion to go into either
cardiovascular or respiratory physiology.
A Winding Career Path
An opportunity opened up
at the Postgraduate Medical School in London because they were starting a
new academic program in respiratory medicine and physiology. At the time
he was very much influenced by Julius H. Comroe's book The Lung
(1st edition). During his 15 years at the Royal Postgraduate Medical
School, Dr. West started to work with a new respiratory mass spectrometer
that allowed him to analyze expired gas. This introduced him to the world
of ventilation‑perfusion inequality, which he embraced enthusiastically.
While at the Royal
Postgraduate Medical School, he was able to take advantage of several
opportunities to branch out in his research. In 1960 he took part in an
expedition to the Himalayan Mountains. In 1961-62 he traveled to the US to
spend a year in the laboratory of Hermann Rahn at the University of
Buffalo (as it then was called) to continue his research on
ventilation‑perfusion inequality. Then in 1967-1968, he returned to the US
to the NASA Ames Research Center to study the effects of weightlessness on
the lung.
In 1969 he was invited to
move to the US and help establish a new medical school at the University
of California, San Diego. He did so and remains there today as a Professor
of Physiology and Medicine in the School of Medicine.
Physiology Research in the Himalayas
and in Deep Space
Dr. West is a very active
researcher. However, unlike many researchers today, his research spans
several fields. He has worked on several aspects of respiratory
physiology, particularly the distribution of blood flow in the lung.
Currently he is investigating the properties of pulmonary capillaries and,
in particular, how they are damaged when exposed to high stresses.
A second area of research
interest is high‑altitude physiology. Dr. West has been fortunate to take
part in two major Himalayan expeditions. In 1960 he learned that Sir
Edmund Hillary was planning a physiological expedition to the Himalayas.
When he asked to go along to help with the experiments, he was accepted,
even though he had never done any mountain climbing. This was the
so-called Silver Hut expedition where he and a small group of
physiologists wintered at an altitude of 5800 m (19,000 ft) just south of
Mt. Everest. This began a long interest in high-altitude medicine and
physiology. The second expedition Dr. West was asked to lead. This was the
1981 American Medical Research Expedition to Mt. Everest during which the
first-ever physiological measurements on the mountain’s summit were made.
His interest in this field continues today with a project on oxygen
enrichment of room air at high altitude that promises to be critically
important for commuters who work at very high altitudes. His monograph
“High Life” is a standard history of high altitude physiology and
medicine. He also edits a new journal, High Altitude Medicine & Biology.
Because of his interest
in the effects of gravity on the lung, Dr. West took a year off in
1967-1968 and returned to the US to the NASA Ames Research Center to study
the lung in weightlessness. His studies on lung function in astronauts
have been conducted on four Spacelabs. In addition, he has one experiment
running on the International Space Station.
Teaching Physiology and Teaching Others
How to Teach
Dr. West has a
substantial teaching responsibility in that, for the past 30 years, he has
been in charge of the physiology course at UCSD for first-year medical
students. He has always been interested in teaching and how to be a good
teacher. He has written several books on the topic. He is an excellent
teacher himself and has received recognition for that. On a national
basis, he was the 2002 recipient of the Arthur Guyton Teacher of the Year
Award from the APS for his outstanding teaching ability.
Historian and Author
Dr. West’s third major
interest is in the history of physiology. Not only has he written books on
this topic but he has also developed an Archival Collection in High
Altitude Medicine and Physiology in the main library at UCSD.
Outside Interests
Outside of his research
and teaching, Dr. West pursuing interests in classical music and
literature. He also likes to fly radio‑controlled gliders at the famous
Torrey Pines Glider Port, which is only ten minutes from his home. He also
does volunteer work for a private library in La Jolla called the Athenaeum
where he has served on the Board of Trustees for several years.
Advice to Graduate Students
Make sure that you have a
good grounding in basic molecular and cell biology as well as other areas
because this will continue to be very important.
Recent Publications
Respiratory Research:
1. West J.B., Z. Fu, A.P.
Gaeth, and R.V. Short. Fetal lung development in the elephant reflects the
adaptations required for snorkeling in adult life. Respir. Physiol.
Neurobiol. 138: 325-333, 2003.
2. West, J.B. Thoughts on
the pulmonary blood-gas barrier.
Am.
J. Physiol.: Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 285: L501-L513, 2003.
3. Fu, Z., G.P. Heldt,
and J.B. West. Thickness of the blood-gas barrier in premature and 1 day
old newborn rabbit lungs.
Am.
J. Physiol.: Lung Cell. Molec. Physiol. 285: L130-L136, 2003.
4. Fu, Z., G. Heldt, and
J.B. West. Increased fragility of pulmonary capillaries in newborn rabbit.
Am. J. Physiol.: Lung Cell. Molec. Physiol. 284: L703-L709, 2003.
5. Prisk, G.K., H.J.B.
Guy, J.B. West, and J.W. Reed. Validation of measurements of
ventilation-to-perfusion ratio inequality in the lung from expired gas.
J. Appl. Physiol. 94: 1186–1192, 2003.
High-Altitude Research:
1. West, J.B. Improving
oxygenation at high altitude: acclimatization and O2
enrichment. High Alt. Med. Biol. 4: 389-398, 2003.2. West, J.B. Discussion
on cognitive function at high altitude. In: Wellcome Witnesses to
Twentieth Century Medicine, Vol. 16: The MRC Applied Psychology Unit,
edited by L.A. Reynolds and E.M. Tansey. London: Wellcome Trust, 2002, pp.
19-22.
3. West, J.B., and A. Readhead. Working at high altitude: medical
problems, misconceptions, and solutions. ALMA Memos #477,
www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma477/memo477.pdf, 2003.
Space Research:
1. Prisk, G.K., A.R.
Elliott, M. Paiva, and J.B. West. Sleep and respiration in microgravity.
In: The Neurolab Spacelab Mission: Neuroscience Research in Space,
NASA SP-2003-535, edited by J.C. Buckey, Jr. and J.L. Homick. Houston, TX:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2003, pp. 223-232.
History Research:
1. West, J.B. George I.
Finch and his pioneering use of oxygen for climbing at extreme altitudes.
J. Appl.
Physiol. 94: 1702-1713, 2003.
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