Vernon Ingram

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Vernon Martin Ingram
MIT
Doctoral advisorFred Barrow

Vernon Martin Ingram, FRS[1] (May 19, 1924 – August 17, 2006) was a German–American professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Biography

Ingram was born Werner Adolf Martin Immerwahr in

Jewish
) and settled in England. He then Anglicised his name to Vernon Ingram.

During the

Second World War, Ingram worked at a chemical factory producing drugs for the war effort and at night studied at Birkbeck College at the University of London. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry
in 1945 and a PhD in organic chemistry in 1949.

After receiving his doctorate, Ingram worked at postdoctoral appointments at the

Joseph Fruton. In 1952, Ingram returned to England and started working at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge
, studying protein chemistry.

In 1956, Ingram,

haemoglobins differed due to a single substituted amino acid residue. Much of this work was done with the support of Max Perutz and Francis Crick. Ingram won the William Allan Award from the American Society of Human Genetics
in 1967.

This was the first time a researcher demonstrated that a single amino acid exchange in a protein can cause a disease or disorder. As a result, Vernon Ingram is sometimes referred to as "The father of Molecular Medicine." [2]

Ingram joined the

MIT faculty in 1958, intending to stay for only one year. He found that he enjoyed it there so much that he stayed on. While at MIT, Ingram collaborated with Paul Marks of Columbia University
on haemoglobin research. He was also interested in embryonic haemoglobin and how it differed from that of adults.

By the 1980s, Ingram became interested in neuroscience and especially Alzheimer's disease. His interest was sparked by the work his second wife, Elizabeth (Beth), was doing with intellectually disabled people in the Boston area. She had heard that Down syndrome was a disease of the neurofilaments; this turned out not to be the cause, but it was noted that people with Down syndrome did develop Alzheimer's Disease by the time they were 40.

After retirement, Ingram continued his research, maintaining a small laboratory at MIT. He and his wife, Beth, were housemasters of Ashdown House at MIT for 16 years.

6285 Ingram is named in their honour. Ingram was Director of the Experimental Study Group
, an alternative undergraduate education community at MIT, from 1989 to 1999. [3] He was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences
in 2002. [4]

Ingram died in

Boston, Massachusetts
, on 17 August 2006 of injuries stemming from a fall.

See also

Selected publications
  • Blanchard, B.J.; A. Chen; C. Kelly; K. Stafford; B. Stockwell; V.M. Ingram (2004). "Novel Compounds eliminate the Neurotoxicity of the Alzheimer Aβ Peptide". Abstr. Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Annual meeting.
  • Ingram, V.M.; B.J. Blanchard; A. Chen; C. Kelly; K. Stafford; B. Stockwell (2004). "Blocking the Initial Molecular Mechanism of Alzheimer's Disease". Abstr. International Congress on Alzheimer's Disease, Philadelphia.
  • Ingram, V.M. (2004). "The Role of Alzheimer Aβ Peptides in Ion Transport across Cell Membranes, in Subcellular Biochemistry: Alzheimer's Disease". In Harris, R.; Fahrenholz, F. (eds.). Cellular and Molecular Aspects of Amyloid. London: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
  • Webster, J.M.; D.W. Colby; V.M. Ingram; K.D. Wittrup; A. Messer (November 2004). "Enhanced anti-Huntington's Disease Intrabodies". Abstract Soc. Neurosci.

Inaugural Article: Efficient reversal of Alzheimer's disease fibril formation and elimination of neurotoxicity by a small molecule Barbara J. Blanchard, Albert Chen, Leslie M. Rozeboom, Kate A. Stafford, Peter Weigele, and Vernon M. Ingram PNAS 2004 101: 14326-14332

See also

  • MIT Biology Department

References

  1. S2CID 251447271
    .
  2. ^ "2002 National Academy Fellows". Genome Biology. 2 May 2002. Archived from the original on 29 January 2005. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
  3. ^ Darren J. Clarke (17 July 2002). "Surprise! High-flying Tribute for Ingrams". MIT News Office. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
  4. ^ "Three Faculty Named to NAS". MIT News Office. 15 May 2002. Retrieved 25 October 2006.

External links

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