|
Obituary |
||
|
|
||
|
David Bohr 1915-2008 |
||
Bohr was born in Zurich, Switzerland, lived for five years as a boy in Cuba, and received most of his childhood education in southern California. In 1933, he entered the Univ. of Michigan, matriculated in 1936 in its medical school and graduated in 1942. Bohr interned at Henry Ford Hospital for one year before being assigned by the US Army to a Dutch hospital ship for three years of duty as a laboratory officer and detachment commander (1943-46). Bohr trained for two years as a research fellow at the Univ. of California in San Francisco (1946-48). Following this fellowship, he returned to the Univ. of Michigan, and in 1957 was promoted to the rank of professor. Bohr’s rich career touched on many aspects of cardiovascular research, ranging from ion transport in red blood cells from hypertensive animals to the central actions of mineralocorticoids to elevate arterial blood pressure. However, it was his work on the role played by the vasculature in the development of hypertension that was his fundamental contribution to the field. Two of his favorite publications were published in Science. In the first, he demonstrated that calcium not only causes contraction of vascular smooth muscle, but also in higher concentrations decreases excitability to cause relaxation or inhibition of contraction. In the second, he quantified the calcium requirement for contractile activity of vascular smooth muscle and skeletal muscle and showed that the calcium dependency for the contractile apparatus of the two machines was identical. Over the years, Bohr was the recipient of many awards, including the 1984 Ciba Award for Hypertension Research and the Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association. In 1977, he gave the Wiggers Lecture for the American Physiological Society. Bohr received the Ray Daggs Award from the American Physiological Society in 2005. In 2007, Bohr received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Univ. of Michigan. Bohr was a dedicated educator who inspired and mentored numerous scientists and students, and many remember him as an important role model. He was as kind, fair and generous as he was brilliant. Bohr’s legacy is one to be remembered. Bohr served many scientific societies, including the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association and the American Physiological Society. He served on the Hypertension Task Force for the National Institutes of Health from 1978-79. From 1965-68 he was a member of the Committee on Physiology of the National Board of Medical Examiners (1965-68) and he also served on the Cardiovascular Review Panel for the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences (1968-72). Bohr joined APS in 1949. His earliest committee responsibility was with the Membership Committee (1966-69; chairman, 1967-69). for a year (1969-70) he was chairman of the Subcommittee on Undergraduate Education in Physiology and then joined the Education Committee (1970-73). In 1970-73 he was a member of the Steering Committee of the Circulation Group of the Society. From 1974-1977 he served with the Perkins Memorial Fund Committee, after his election to Council in 1973. He became president elect in 1977. As president of the American Physiological Society (APS) (1978-79), Bohr visited Cuban medical schools and observed Cuban health care, and promoted exchange of information between Cuban and American physiologists. He instituted a Standing Committee on Career Opportunities in Physiology to try to help young people during their early careers. He also initiated a meeting between the APS Animal Care Committee and representatives of animal welfare groups. Bohr served on the Editorial Boards of Hypertension, Circulation Research, American Journal of Physiology and the Journal of Applied Physiology. He was a co-editor of the circulation section of the American Journal of Physiology, and as Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology. He also served as editor of the Handbook of Physiology, Vascular Smooth Muscle. Bohr, preceded in death by his wife Kathleen, is survived by a son, John Nicholas Bohr, two daughters, Ann (Barbara) Bohr Benner, and Louise Ann Bohr, and 2 grandchildren Thomas Bohr Benner, and Jack Allen Benner. David Bohr took great pleasure in the game of tennis throughout his life. Family, friends and students enjoyed his ready sense of humor, his compassion, optimism and love of learning. Contributions can be made to the David F. Bohr Quasi Endowment, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Univ. of Michigan, 1301 E. Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (http://www.physiology.med.umich.edu). References 1. Bohr, D F. Vascular smooth muscle: dual effect of calcium. Science 139: 597-599, 1963. 2. Filo, RS, DF Bohr, and JC Ruegg. Glycerinated skeletal and smooth muscle: calcium and magnesium dependence. Science 147: 1581-1583, 1965. |
||
|
|
