nPostednon January 14, 2016
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nToday’snfeatured birthday is one of the founders of the science of brainnchemistry.
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nActually,nas I was reading about Richter, I decided he was a pioneer in severalnways. n
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Bornnin Bath, England, on this date in 1907, Derek Richter went tonuniversity at Oxford and worked with Nobel-Prize-winner HeinrichnWieland at Munich University in Germany (this was before Hitler andnWorld War II).
Bornnin Bath, England, on this date in 1907, Derek Richter went tonuniversity at Oxford and worked with Nobel-Prize-winner HeinrichnWieland at Munich University in Germany (this was before Hitler andnWorld War II). n
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nHe later worked alongside other Nobel laureates at thenUniversity of Cambridge. n
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| London was an intense place to live during WWII! |
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nAtnage 35, a married man with children, with little money and whilenliving in a city (London) under constant attack by bombs dropped fromnairplanes (this of course was during World War II!) – with all of that going on, Richter decided to enter medical school! He continued with his research at the samentime as going to medical school, AND he even set up a researchnlaboratory for treating shell-shock!
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nAfternthe war was over, Richter studied epilepsy; also, he worked with onenof the first Geiger counters in the nation to isolate nuclei from thencells of the cerebral cortex. He studied brain metabolism, brainnfunction, therapies, proteins in the brain, and – and – and – !
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nOnenthing I was struck by is how collaborative Richter was, working withna wide variety of other researchers and doctors on a variety ofnstudies. He worked with his wife on at least one project. He gatheredntogether an international group of scientists from many differentnfields to create a global approach to research. n
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nRichternhelped start The Journal of Neurochemistry, he helped create brainnresearch organizations, and he started a charity to research mentalnillness. He was in high demand as a lecturer, and he won awards andnfellowships and other sorts of honors.
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nRichternalso became involved with the World Health Organization and AmnestynInternational; he wrote humanitarian books; he became one of thenfirst sperm donors (at a time when it was really controversial); andnhe helped to create a refuge for discharged mental patients.
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Inmean – wow! Derek Richter was just a bit of an achiever, wasn’t he?nAnd ahead of his time, as well!
Inmean – wow! Derek Richter was just a bit of an achiever, wasn’t he?nAnd ahead of his time, as well!
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| Thanks to Google, you can learn more about brain chemistry than Derek Richter ever knew. That’s because we have learned more about brains |
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nAlsonon this date:
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n(Januaryn14 to March 7) Magh Mela in India
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nMusiciannDave Grohl’s birthday
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nThen“real” birthday of the U.S.A.
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nDressnUp Your Pet Day
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nHotnFoods Month
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n“Old”nNew Year in the Slavic countries
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Plannahead:
Plannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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