| Denham Harman |
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| 1916 births | |
| harman, denham | |
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BACKGROUND Denham Harman earned his BS and Ph.D. from the College of Chemistry at the University Of California , Berkeley and his M.D. from Stanford University . In 1943 he joined the Reaction Kinetics department of Shell Oil in Emeryville, California . He worked for six years as a Shell research Chemist , in part studying Free Radical Reactions in petroleum products. During that period he was granted 35 Patent s, one for a compound used in plastic strips to catch Flies . Dr. Harman became fascinated with the phenomenon of Aging , its cause and possible cure. To assist him in understanding this problem he went to medical school at Stanford University. Harman became Chair of cardiovascular research at the University Of Nebraska College of Medicine in 1958. Married for over 60 years and the father of four children, Dr. Harman has maintained a healthy Lifestyle throughout his life. He has never Smoked and Drinks Alcohol in moderation. He ran two miles a day until he was 82. He quit because of a back injury, but he continued to take regular walks to help him maintain a weight of 140 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame. DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREE RADICAL THEORY OF AGING In 1954, between his Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine , Dr. Harman became a research associated at the Donner Laboratory of Medical Physics at UC Berkeley , where he was able to pursue the puzzle of the Cause Of Aging . After four months of frustration he hit upon the idea of Free Radicals as cause of the damage to macromolecules known as " Aging ". He attempted to detect free radicals in association with the Enzyme Catalase , but without success. He attempted to do Lifespan studies with short-lived strains of mice subject to Radiation and given the radiation protection compound 2-MEA (2-mercaptoethylamine), and was able to show extension of lifespan. He was able to show extension of lifespan with a number of Antioxidant s. In 1961, Dr. Harman published a study showing that the degree of Polyunsaturation in fats had a dramatic effect on Cancer rates in Mice . The most highly Polyunsaturated Dietary Fats were found to be the most Carcinogenic . In 1968 Dr. Harman published a dietary antioxidant study showing that the food preservative determine lifespan. ORGANIZATIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS In 1969 Dr. Harman became concerned that few of those involved in Gerontology were studying the Biological aspects of Aging , and fewer still had a serious interest in discovering the cause of aging. In 1970 he became a founder of the American Aging Association (AGE) to create a society of scientists focused on aging research and advocacy of aging research. In 1985 he became a founder of the International Association of Biomedical Gerontology (IABG). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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