Panayotis Katsoyannis

Panayotis G. Katsoyannis (January 7, 1924 - May 31, 2019) was an American biochemist who is often credited with being the first to synthesize insulin while leading a team at the University of Pittsburgh in the early 1960s. His results synthesizing insulin were achieved almost simultaneously with that of Helmut Zahn at RWTH Aachen University in Germany.^[1][2] In his early years, while doing his PhD at the University of Athens Katsoyannis had been under the mentorship of Leonidas Zervas, who previously developed new synthetic methods for asymmetric cysteine-containing peptides as those in insulin.^[3]

Katsoyannis was also noted for his studies on the synthesis of

Katoyannis received the Commemorative Medallion of the American Diabetes Association in 1972 on the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of insulin. He also received the Jacobi Medallion from Mount Sinai Alumni in 1995 and an honorary degree from the University of Patras in Greece in 1997.^[7] He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1966), the New York Academy of Sciences (1977), and a Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Greece (Academy of Athens) (1966).^[6]

Katoyannis died on May 31, 2019, at the age of 95.^[8]

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