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Living History of Physiology
Gerhard Giebisch
Gerhard Giebisch, M.D., is
Sterling Professor Emeritus of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale
University School of Medicine. He was born and raised in Vienna, Austria,
where he attended elementary and high school and received the M.D. degree
from the University of Vienna in 1951. Dr. Giebisch’s original career goal
was to be an internist, and he was advised by one of his professors, Erwin
Deutsch, to first get basic science research training. Dr. Deutsch referred
this eager medical student to Franz von Brücke, the Chairman of
Pharmacology, who greatly stimulated the young man’s interest in
physiology. While still a student, Dr. Giebisch was first introduced to
renal physiology by reading a copy of Homer Smith’s Porter Lectures that he
had been given. He also read a book by Otto Spühler on modern methods to
study renal function, which led him to contact Dr. Spühler and arrange for a
three-month period in his laboratory in Zurich. Dr. Giebisch credits this
period with Dr. Spühler as pivotal to his decision to devote his life to
renal physiology. He returned to Vienna, finished his medical studies, and
was appointed Instructor in Pharmacology in 1951. His first original paper
was on the effects of mercurial diuretics and was published in 1952.
To improve his English, Dr.
Giebisch had been corresponding with a beautiful young woman named Ilse
Riebeth, the daughter of close family friends who had emigrated from Austria
to Milwaukee. The Riebeth family helped arrange for Dr. Giebisch to obtain
a rotating internship at the Milwaukee Hospital during the 1952-1953
academic year. He and Ilse were married in 1952. After completing his
internship, Dr. Giebisch moved to the Department of Physiology at Cornell
University Medical College in New York to train as a postdoctoral fellow
with Robert Pitts from 1953-1954. Dr. Giebisch was Instructor in Physiology
at Cornell during 1955-1956, and then returned to Austria to become
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Vienna in 1956.
After only one year, he returned to the Department of Physiology at Cornell,
where he was Assistant Professor from 1957-1960, Associate Professor from
1960-1965, and Professor from 1965-1968. In 1968 he was recruited to Yale
as Professor and Chairman of Physiology. Dr. Giebisch was named Sterling
Professor of Physiology in 1970. He served as Chairman of Physiology from
1968-1973, an important period of growth of the department. Faculty
recruited to the department by Dr. Giebisch included Richard Tsien, Emile
Boulpaep and John Sachs.
For over 50 years, Dr.
Giebisch has devoted his professional career to the study of the mechanisms
of renal electrolyte transport and their regulation. He has had a special
interest in the renal handling of potassium. He was a pioneer in the use of
micropuncture techniques and then patch-clamp methods to study this
problem. His work is largely responsible for our current understanding of
the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of renal
potassium excretion. Dr. Giebisch’s monumental contributions to renal
physiology have been recognized by many honors including the Homer Smith
Award of the American Society of Nephrology in 1971, the Johannes Müller
Medal of the German Physiological Society in 1980, election to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1983, election to the National Academy of
Sciences in 1984, election to the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher
Leopoldina in 1988, the Volhard Medal of the German Nephrological Society in
1988, the Ernst Jung Preis für Medizin in 1990, the A.N. Richards Award of
the International Society of Nephrology in 1993, the Berliner Award of the
American Physiological Society in 1994, the John P. Peters Award of the
American Society of Nephrology in 2006, and honorary doctorates from Uppsala
University, the University of Bern, the University of Lausanne, the
University of Vienna, and the University of Connecticut.
In addition to his enormous
scientific contributions, Dr. Giebisch has been an exemplary academic
citizen. His many positions have included service as President of the
American Society of Nephrology and President of the Society of General
Physiologists, as well as innumerable editor and editorial positions, study
section memberships, and council positions in academic societies. Dr.
Giebisch has also been an exemplary mentor. Dozens of his trainees have
achieved success as professors and department chairs around the world.
On a personal level, Dr.
Giebisch is widely respected for his integrity, modesty and generosity. A
devoted husband and father, his diverse range of interests include music,
philosophy, history, mountain climbing, photography, and driving his
Porsche. He has earned the universal respect, admiration and affection of
his colleagues and friends. We all look forward to many more years of his
intellectual contributions and friendship.
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