Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.

Guest Speaker

Fourth Annual Connie L. Lerea Lecture

ROBERT J. LEFKOWITZ, M.D., graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1966 and began his research career in characterizing receptors as a clinical and research associate with Drs. Jesse Roth and Ira Pastan at the NIH. From 1970 to 1973 he continued his research endeavors in the laboratory of Dr. Edgar Haber at Massachusetts General Hospital as a medical resident training in cardiovascular disease. Upon completion, he joined Duke University Medical Center where he is currently Professor of Biochemistry and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine. Dr. Lefkowitz's acclaimed studies provided the classic approach to characterize receptors. In the early 1970s he and his colleagues developed radioligand-binding techniques to directly study receptors in cells and intact tissues. At Duke, Dr. Lefkowitz has pioneered the field of heptahelical receptors by purifying the b-adrenergic receptor in the early 1980s, leading to its cloning and characterization. These studies were pivotal in understanding how receptors become activated and desensitized following exposure to agonists. His accomplishments over the past 30 years have allowed for the development of more selective drugs toward specific receptor systems. His achievements have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, which include being an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1976, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.