NIH Biographies

NIH scientists have made major contributions to health and basic medical science for over 100 years. They include 163 Nobel laureates, 214 winners of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and more than 200 members of the US National Academies of Science and Medicine.

The nonscientists essential to NIH’s day-to-day operations also have interesting stories to share - and they too are key to understanding NIH and its history. ONHM recently launched a new project to gather those stories. As they are completed, they will be published here.

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Rhoda Baer, Courtesy of the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum, 5618

Harvey Alter, M.D., is an NIH virologist best known for his work that led to the discovery of hepatitis B and C. For his work on hepatitis C, he was awarded the 2000…

Christian B. Anfinsen, M.D., was a biochemist and Nobel laureate who worked on the structure and function of proteins; the relations between protein chemistry and…

Charles Armstrong, M.D., was best known for his work on polio and many other contagious diseases, such as botulism, influenza, syphilis, tetanus, milk-borne epidemics…

G. Gilbert Ashwell, M.D., was a pioneer in the field of glycobiology and is best known as the co-discoverer of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in the liver, sometimes…

Aurbach, Gerald D in white coat wears a glove and sitting on the chair

Gerald D. Aurbach, M.D., was the first to isolate parathyroid hormone, a major regulator of blood calcium.

Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., was best known for work on brain chemistry in the early 1960s that led to modern-day treatments for depression and anxiety disorders. For that…

Black and white image of a woman sitting at a table performing experiments

Internationally recognized for pioneering work, Ida Bengtson, Ph.D., worked as a scientist at the Public Health Service’s Hygienic Laboratory, later known as the…

Robert Berliner, M.D., an eminent renal physiologist, helped establish early concepts of how potassium, sodium, hydrogen and water are transported by the kidney.

Baruch Blumberg, M.D., is best known for his discovery of the hepatitis B virus, sharing the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "discoveries concerning…

Roscoe Brady, M.D., was the world's leading researcher on hereditary metabolic storage diseases, also called lipid or lysosomal storage disorders, such as Gaucher,…

Dr. Branham, a United States Public Health Service scientist, became nationally known for her studies in the field of infectious diseases and is considered one of the…

Bernard Brodie, Ph.D., was an internationally renowned pharmacologist whose groundbreaking work at Goldwater and NIH — including his involvement in the development of…

Giulio Cantoni, M.D., was the founding chief of one of the National Institute of Mental Health's laboratories as well as the founding music director of the FAES…

Chanock, Robert M is wearing suit and bow tie

Robert Chanock, M.D., was a renowned virologist and chief of the NIH Laboratory of Infectious Diseases.

Clark, William Mansfield is sitting on the chair

William Mansfield Clark, Ph.D., headed one of our oldest laboratories, the Laboratory of Chemistry in the Hygienic Laboratory, a precursor of the NIH, from 1920 to…

Dr. Janine Austin Clayton is the second director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), a role she’s held since 2012.

Kenneth Cole, Ph.D., is considered the father of biophysics. He was the world's leading authority on the biophysics of the nervous system.

Erminio Costa, Ph.D., contributed to the discovery of how serotonin works, demonstrating the importance of neurotransmitter turnover rates in understanding neuronal…

John Daly, Ph.D., was a world-renowned leader in natural products, chemical ecology, biological chemistry, and pharmacology. He was elected to the National Academy of…

Evans, like many other early women scientists, began her career as a teacher. In 1909, she received her BS in bacteriology from Cornell University and, in 1910,…

NIH Biographies

Alter, Harvey J. (1935-)

Anfinsen, Christian Boehmer (1916–1995)

Armstrong, Charles (1886–1967)

Ashwell, G. Gilbert (1916–2014)

Aurbach, Gerald D. (1927–1991)

Axelrod, Julius (1912–2004)

Bengtson, Ida Albertina (1881–1952)

Berliner, Robert W. (1915-2002)

Blumberg, Baruch S. (1925-2011)

Brady, Roscoe O. (1923-2016)

Branham Matthews, Sara (1888-1962)

Brodie, Bernard B. (1907-1989)

Cantoni, Giulio L. (1915-2005)

Chanock, Robert M. (1924-2010)

Clark, William Mansfield (1884-1964)

Clayton, Janine Austin (1962-)

Cole, Kenneth S. (1900-1984)

Costa, Erminio (1924–2009)

Daly, John W. (1933–2008)

Evans, Alice Catherine (1881–1975)