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The Arthur K. Parpart Lectureship
7/17/06 - 4:00 PM - Lillie Auditorium
“Polarized sorting of proteins and lipids to the cell surface”
Dr. Kai Simons, Max Planck Institute, Dresden
Kai Simons received his M.D. degree from the University of Helsinki and his board certification in 1964. Simons then conducted postdoctoral research with A.G. Bearn at Rockefeller University in New York. In 1967, he accepted a position from the Finnish Medical Research Council at the University of Helsinki, where he rose through the ranks and became a Senior Investigator in 1972, with appointments in the departments of biochemistry, and bacteriology and serology. In 1975, he became a group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and started the cell biology program, which became the focal point for molecular cell biology in Europe. For his many contributions to cell biology, Simons has received numerous accolades, including the Keith Porter Lectureship of the American Society for Cell Biology (1990), Anders Jahre for Medical Research in 1995, a Harvey Society Lecturer (1994), Dunham Lecturer at Harvard Medical School (1996), and Li Lecturer, UC Berkeley (1998). He is Doctor Honoris Causa at the universities of Oulu, Finland and Leuven, Belgium. In 2005 Dr. Simons was awarded the Laurens van Deenen Medal, University of Utrecht. He is a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA and president of the European Life Scientist Organization. In 2001 Dr. Simons moved to Dresden to build up the new Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. He is married and has three children.
About the Arthur K. Parpart Lectureship
The Arthur K. Parpart Lectureship was established by Dr. Joseph F. Hoffman in memory of Dr. Parpart’s distinguished career as a devoted teacher and able investigator. Dr. Parpart’s interest in the natural sciences began during his early years as an undergraduate student at Amherst College. Although his research over the years encompassed a wide range of subjects, his main concern was the physiology of the red blood cell, in particular the physiological and biochemical architecture of its cell membrane.
In 1931, Dr. Parpart accepted a faculty position at Princeton University shortly after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1948, he was elevated to chairman of Princeton’s Department of Biology, a position he occupied until his sudden death in 1965. Each June, Dr. Parpart transported his laboratory to Woods Hole where he spent summers doing research at the Marine Biological Laboratory. For more than ten years, he was a faculty member of the MBL’s Physiology Course; in 1963, was elected President of the Laboratory.
Widely known for his work in physiology and biochemistry, Dr. Parpart made a vital contribution to medical science during WWII, by directing a top-priority research project, which succeeded in lengthening the time human blood can be stored from three days to a maximum of forty days.
The career of Arthur K. Parpart was a notable one in all respects. He was a productive scientist, a vigorous and preserving leader, and a man who engendered the respect and friendship of scores of students and colleagues.
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