Results for James W. Black
On this page:
 
Scientist:

Sir James Whyte Black

British biochemist (1924–)

Black graduated from St. Andrews University in 1946 and, after a number of academic posts, joined ICI as a pharmacologist (1958–64). After working with Smith, Kline and French he became professor of pharmacology at University College, London (1973–77), before joining Wellcome as Director of Therapeutic Research (1978–84). Since 1984 he has been professor of analytical pharmacology at King's College Hospital, London.

Black has been associated with two important advances in pharmacology. In the 1950s he isolated the first beta blockers. These are compounds that prevent the stimulation of certain nerve endings (beta receptors) in the sympathetic nervous system, thus reducing heart activity. Beta blockers are widely used to treat hypertension and angina. His subsequent work has been concerned with the control of gastric ulcers and his discovery of the drug cimetidine, which reduces acid secretion in the stomach and is used to treat ulcers in the stomach and duodenum. For this work and his earlier work on beta blockers he was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

 
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Sir James Whyte Black

(born June 14, 1924, Uddingston, Scot.) Scottish pharmacologist. Through studying interactions between receptors on cells and chemicals in the bloodstream that attach to them, Black developed the first of the beta-blocking drugs, to relieve angina pectoris. He used a similar approach to develop drugs for stomach and duodenal ulcers. He shared a 1988 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Gertrude Elion.

For more information on Sir James Whyte Black, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Black, Sir James,
1924–, Scottish pharmacologist, M.D. Univ. of St. Andrews, 1946. A professor at Kings College Medical School, he shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion for his contributions to the area of drug treatment. He discovered important drugs that treat angina, gastric ulcers, hypertension, migraines, and other health problems.
 
Wikipedia: James W. Black
For other persons named James Black, see James Black (disambiguation).

Sir James Whyte Black, OM, FRS, FRSE, FRCP (born 14 July 1924) is a Scottish pharmacologist who invented Propranolol, synthesized Cimetidine and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988 for these discoveries.[1]

Black was educated at Beath High School, Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland, and the University of St Andrews, Fife, where he studied medicine, spending time in Dundee (where all the clinical medical activity of St Andrews' University took place until 1967). He joined the Physiology department at University of St Andrews before taking a lecturer position at the University of Malaya. Upon return to Scotland in 1950, he joined the University of Glasgow (Veterinary School) where he established the Physiology Department. During his career he worked in both industry and academia. He was employed by ICI Pharmaceuticals (1958-1964), Smith, Kline and French (1964-1973) and Wellcome Foundation (1978-1984) and was appointed professor of pharmacology at University College London (1973-1978) and King's College London (1984-1992). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1976 and the same year he was awarded the Lasker award. [2]. In 1979, he was awarded the Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize.

He was created a Knight Bachelor in 1981. In 2000 Sir James was appointed to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II. The order is limited to 24 members and is the highest honour the monarch can bestow.

Sir James Black contributed to basic scientific and clinical knowledge in cardiology, both as a physician and as a basic scientist. His invention of propranolol the beta adrenergic receptor antagonist that revolutionized the medical management of angina pectoris, is considered to be one of the most important contributions to clinical medicine and pharmacology of the 20th century.[3] [4] His method of research, his discoveries about adrenergic pharmacology, and his clarification of the mechanisms of cardiac action are all strengths of his work.[5]

Sir James was the Chancellor of the University of Dundee between 1992 and May 2006. In August 2006, the Sir James Black Centre was officially incorporated into the College of Life Sciences at the university.

See also

References

  1. ^ Tore Frängsmyr (1989). Sir James W. Black: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Les Prix Nobel. Nobel Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
  2. ^ 1976 winners: Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research. Lasker Medical Research Network (1976).
  3. ^ Melanie Patricia Stapleton (1997). Sir James Black and Propranolol. Texas Heart Institute Journal.
  4. ^ "anTAGonist" and "ciMETidine". American Chemical Society (2005). Retrieved on December 25, 2005.
  5. ^ Alan Taylor (2004). Or is this our national hero?. Sunday Herald. Retrieved on January 25, 2004.


Academic offices
Preceded by
Earl of Dalhousie		 Chancellor of the University of Dundee
1992-2006		 Succeeded by
Baron Patel
Wolf Prize in Medicine Laureates

George Snell / Jean Dausset / Jon J. van Rood (1978) • Roger Sperry / Arvid Carlsson / Oleh Hornykiewicz (1979) • César Milstein / Leo Sachs / James L. Gowans (1980) • Barbara McClintock / Stanley Norman Cohen (1981) • Jean-Pierre Changeux / Solomon H. Snyder / James W. Black (1982) • Donald F. Steiner (1984) • Osamu Hayaishi (1986) • Pedro Cuatrecasas / Meir Wilchek (1987) • Henri G. Hers / Elizabeth F. Neufeld (1988) • John Gurdon / Edward B. Lewis (1989) • Maclyn McCarty (1990) • Seymour Benzer (1991) • Judah Folkman (1992) • Michael Berridge / Yasutomi Nishizuka (1994) • Stanley B. Prusiner (1995) • Mary F. Lyon (1997) • Michael Sela / Ruth Arnon (1998) • Eric Kandel (1999) • Avram Hershko / Alexander Varshavsky (2001) • Ralph L. Brinster / Mario Capecchi / Oliver Smithies (2002) • Robert Weinberg / Roger Y. Tsien (2004) • Alexander Levitzki / Anthony R. Hunter / Anthony Pawson (2005)

Agriculture | Arts | Chemistry | Mathematics | Medicine | Physics
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates

Baruch Blumberg / Daniel Gajdusek (1976) • Roger Guillemin / Andrew W. Schally / Rosalyn Yalow (1977) • Werner Arber / Daniel Nathans / Hamilton O. Smith (1978) • Allan Cormack / Godfrey Hounsfield (1979) • Baruj Benacerraf / Jean Dausset / George Snell (1980) • Roger Sperry / David H. Hubel / Torsten Wiesel (1981) • Sune Bergström / Bengt I. Samuelsson / John Vane (1982) • Barbara McClintock (1983) • Niels Jerne / Georges Köhler / César Milstein (1984) • Michael Brown / Joseph L. Goldstein (1985) • Stanley Cohen / Rita Levi-Montalcini (1986) • Susumu Tonegawa (1987) • James W. Black / Gertrude B. Elion / George H. Hitchings (1988) • J. Michael Bishop / Harold E. Varmus (1989) • Joseph Murray / E. Donnall Thomas (1990) • Erwin Neher / Bert Sakmann (1991) • Edmond Fischer / Edwin G. Krebs (1992) • Richard J. Roberts / Phillip Sharp (1993) • Alfred G. Gilman / Martin Rodbell (1994) • Edward B. Lewis / Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard / Eric F. Wieschaus (1995) • Peter Doherty / Rolf M. Zinkernagel (1996) • Stanley B. Prusiner (1997) • Robert F. Furchgott / Louis Ignarro / Ferid Murad (1998) • Günter Blobel (1999) • Arvid Carlsson / Paul Greengard / Eric Kandel (2000)

Complete roster | (1901-1925) | (1926-1950) | (1951-1975) | (1976-2000) | (2001-2025)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "James W. Black" at WikiAnswers.

 

Copyrights:

Scientist. A Dictionary of Scientists. Copyright © Market House Books Ltd 1993, 1999, 2003. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James W. Black".  Read more

Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!  
Click here to download now. 

Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.

On this page:   E-mail   print Print  Link  

 

Keep Reading

Mentioned In:

 |  More >More >
 

Do you have the answers?