Name Donald Steiner | Role Biochemist | |
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Died November 11, 2014, Lincoln Park, Illinois, United States Awards Gairdner Foundation International Award, Wolf Prize in Medicine | ||
2014 university of chicago alumni medalist donald f steiner
Donald Frederick Steiner (July 15, 1930 – November 11, 2014) was an American biochemist and a professor at the University of Chicago.
Contents
- 2014 university of chicago alumni medalist donald f steiner
- Birth and education
- Research
- Awards
- References
Birth and education
Donald F. Steiner was born in 1930 in Lima, Ohio. He completed his B.S. in Chemistry and Zoology from the University of Cincinnati in 1952. He completed his M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Chicago in 1956 and M.D. from the same university in 1956.
Research
Donald F. Steiner is known for his discoveries on proinsulin, the precursor of insulin which is a hormone that helps the body control the use of sugar. He found that insulin is synthesized from a larger precursor protein in the beta cells of the pancreas and this led the way to elucidation of how the islet cells function, and how peptide hormones are synthesized and metabolized. He and his colleagues discovered some of the enzymes that convert proinsulin into insulin, and also devised methods for measuring insulin and its precursors in human serum.