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Gabor Kaley, Ph.D.
Gabor Kaley, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Department of
Physiology, was among the longest sitting chairmen of physiology in the
nation. Dr. Kaley was born in Budapest Hungary in 1926. The son of a noted
Hungarian otolaryngologist and university professor, whose patients included
a large number of opera singers; from his father Dr. Kaley acquired his love
of opera and music. His ambition and plan to follow in his father’s
footsteps were cruelly interrupted by the Second World War. After surviving
internment in a Yugoslavian slave labor camp, he completed two years of
medical school at Peter Pazmany University in Budapest, followed by a third
year at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. He then decided to seek his
future in America but was unable to continue his medical education here.
After receiving a B.S. in biology from Columbia University in 1950, he
was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War. He subsequently
earned an M.S. in physiology and a Ph.D. in experimental pathology at New
York University (NYU) School of Medicine in 1960. There he conducted his
thesis work and found his love of the microcirculation under Dr. Benjamin
Zweifach, considered the father of the study of microcirculation. From 1962
to 1964, he served as instructor and assistant professor of pathology at NYU
School of Medicine. In 1964 he joined the faculty at New York Medical
College, where he helped to establish the Graduate School of Basic Medical
Sciences. He served as chairman of the Department of Physiology for 37
years.
Dr. Kaley is the quintessential microcirculationist. Dr. Kaley’s
philosophy of science was stated by his former teacher and fellow Hungarian,
Albert Szentgyörgyi, who said that “A good scientist has to see what
everybody sees and think what nobody else has thought”.
Widely recognized as one of the most distinguished physiologists in the
United States, Dr. Kaley has given invited lectures worldwide and served on
the editorial board of numerous journals. He has served as an associate
editor of three important journals: the American Journal of Physiology
(Heart and Circulatory Physiology), Microcirculation, and Prostaglandins. He
is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
American Heart Association, the American Physiological Society (APS), the
European Society for Microcirculation, and the Microcirculatory Society,
among others. He is a Fellow in the AHA and the Cardiovascular Section of
the APS.
During his career Dr. Kaley has written more than 200 articles, including
one that was cited by Current Contents as a seminal article leading to the
discovery of the biological role of prostaglandins and the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine. He has also edited an authoritative three-volume
monograph on Microcirculation. In 1991, Dr. Kaley and his team of
investigators were awarded a Program Project Grant by the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute for endothelial research as it relates to vascular
function. The grant has been renewed four times.
Dr. Kaley has been a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since
1982. He was awarded the Semmelweis Medal for his contributions to the
understanding of microcirculation. He received the Eugene M. Landis Award
from the Microcirculatory Society in 1994, and in 1998 he was selected as
the George E. Brown Memorial Lecturer by the Council on Circulation of the
American Heart Association. In 2000, he was the recipient of the Carl J.
Wiggers Award of the American Physiological Society. In 2003, he was elected
to Alpha Omega Alpha, the honorary medical society. He received the
Distinguished Service Award of the Association of Chairs of Departments of
Physiology. in 2002. Dr. Kaley was chairman of the APS Public Relations
Committee (1990-1993) and was a member of the council of the
Microcirculatory Society (1985-1988). Dr. Kaley is a long standing member of
the Woods Hole Corporation. In 2006, he was named an Eminent Physiologist by
the APS in recognition of his outstanding achievements in research,
education and service that have significantly advanced the discipline and
profession of physiology. Dr. Kaley has sponsored a large number of Ph.D.
and Masters students.
Dr. Kaley has made significant contributions in our understanding of: a)
the role of prostaglandins in vascular regulation, b) the evolutionary
appearance of the renin-angiotensin system, c) mechanisms of pressure and
flow (shear stress) in the control of the microcirculation, d) the role of
nitric oxide in the physiologic and pathologic control of the circulation;
e) gender dependent control of resistance arteries, f) identification and
actions of EDHF in the microcirculation, and most recently, g) the
consequences of aging and diabetes in the microcirculation.
A videotaped interview with Dr. Kaley about his life, scholarly
achievements, research contributions, leadership attainments and honors, and
vision for the future of physiology is included in the archival history of
the APS.
Dr. Kaley and his wife of 39 years, Dr. Harriette Kaley, live in
Manhattan. He is the father of two children and has two grandchildren.
Thomas H. Hintze, Ph.D. Irving H. Zucker, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman
Theodore F. Hubbard Department of Physiology Professor of Cardiovascular
Research New York Medical College Chair, Cellular and Integrate Physiology
Valhalla, NY 10595 President American Physiological Society University of
Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, Nebraska
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