Jubilee Publication on the 75th Anniversary of Albert Szent-Györgyi's Nobel Prize Award

240 Pages·2012·8.57 MB·English

Jubilee Publication on the
75th Anniversary of
Albert Szent-Györgyi’s
Nobel Prize Award
Jubilee Publication on the 75th Anniversary of
Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize Award

Jubilee Publication on the 75th Anniversary of
Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize Award
Chief Editors:
András Varró László Vécsei
Vice Rector for Science, Dean of the Faculty of
Research Development and Medicine, Head of Neurology
Innovation; Head of the Department,
Department of Albert Szent-Györgyi
Pharmacology and Clinical Center,
Pharmacotherapy Faculty of Medicine,
Faculty of Medicine University of Szeged,
University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Szeged, Hungary
Lajos Kemény Péter Hegyi
Vice Dean for General Secretary General of the
and Scientific Affairs of Anniversary Conference,
the Faculty of Medicine, First Department of
Head of Department Medicine,
of Dermatology and Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical
Allergology, Albert Szent- Center, Faculty of Medicine
Györgyi Clinical Center, University of Szeged,
Faculty of Medicine, Szeged, Hungary
University of Szeged,
Szeged, Hungary
session editors:
István Hannus
Department of Applied and Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Informatics,
University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
Tamás Vajda
Head of Specialized Archives of the University of Szeged,
Szeged, Hungary
Éva Pallagi-Kunstár
First Department of Medicine, Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical Center,
Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
english proofrender:
Staff of the Department for Medical Translation and Communication,
University of Faculty of Medicine, Szeged, Hungary
resonsible for edition:
Gábor Szabó
Rector of the University of Szeged,
University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
ISBN 978-936-306-145-1
Technical editors: László Zsibrita, Zoltán Papp, László Frölich
Cover page design: László Zsibrita
Size: B/5 sheets
Printed:
Innovariant Nyomdaipari Kft.
Szeged, Textílgyári út 3
Director: Drágán György
© 2012
Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged
Tisza Lajos krt. 109
Szeged, H-6720
Hungary
75th AnniversAry of Albert s zent-GyörGyi’s nobel Prize AwArd – szeGed 22-25 mArch, 2012
CONTENTS
Preface ............................................................................................................................................7
I. Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Biography ..............................................................................11
II. The life and achievements of Albert Szent-Györgyi in Hungary
between 1930–1947 ........................................................................................................21
III. Albert Szent-Györgyi in the New York Times .....................................................45
IV. 75th Anniversary of Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize Award ..............61
IV.a Structure of the Conferences ............................................................................64
IV.b Organizing Committee ........................................................................................73
IV.c Conference Overview ............................................................................................75
V. Biography of the invited faculty ..............................................................................133

75th AnniversAry of Albert s zent-GyörGyi’s nobel Prize AwArd – szeGed 22-25 mArch, 2012
PREFACE
The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Szeged, Hungary, is organizing an international
conference on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of Albert Szent-Györgyi’s Nobel Prize
Award, which he received in 1937 for isolating vitamin C and for his research on the Krebs cycle.
The event is scheduled to start on 22nd March, 2012 (Thursday) and ends on 25th March 2012
(Sunday).
The history of the University of Szeged dates back to 1581, when István Báthory, the ruler
of Transylvania, founded a higher educational institution in the city of Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca),
which became prestigious within a short period of time. Due to its professors, well-known all
around Europe, it provided a high standard of education and also had the right to confer bachelor
and master’s degrees. Moreover, it was the only institute for higher education at the end of the
16th century in Hungary. Later Maria Theresa entrusted the Piarists to reorganize the institution,
as a result of which the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery was established in 1775. Later on,
these served as the basis for the Hungarian Royal University of Kolozsvár, founded by Francis
Joseph I in 1872. It was renamed after the king in 1881 and bore his name until 1940. After World
War I, since Hungary lost Transylvania, the institution moved to Szeged in 1921 with many of its
professors, and afterwards in the late twenties and early thirties the new university buildings were
erected in the heart of the city together with the university clinics at the riverside. The Minister
of Culture and Education, count Kunó Klebersberg, a man of vision, who supported this project
also recruited several Hungarian scientists working abroad at the time to return to Hungary and
accept a university position in this newly reorganized institution in Szeged. One of them was
Albert Szent-Györgyi, who returned from the United Kingdom accepting the Chair of Medical
Chemistry at the Faculty of Medicine in 1930. Albert Szent-Györgyi and his colleagues carried
out their well known research on the Krebs cycle and vitamin C in Szeged, but later they made
important contributions to muscle biochemistry with actin and myosin; findings, which by many
scientists were considered as important as the isolation of vitamin C.
We are all proud of Albert Szent-Györgyi, the former professor and Dean of the Faculty
of Medicine and former Rector of the University of Szeged. He is an idol both for lecturers and
students, illustrating the idea that world famous results can be achieved in Hungary and Szeged
as well. In addition, his personality and style favourably influenced university life in Szeged and
made a great impact on future generations.
Szeged, which is a lovely university town in Hungary, situated in the south of the country, on the
banks of River Tisza with a population of approximately 170,000 will host this meeting with strong
and prestigious international participation in the research area of Gastroenterology, Cardiology,
Immunology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience and Tuberculosis Evolution.
There will be 412 presentations in these topics and 4 plenary sessions, including those of
the nine Nobel Prize laureates who take part in this meeting to celebrate Albert Szent-Györgyi’s
scientific achievements with us.
The conferences in the field of Cardiology will focus on cardioprotection and sudden cardiac
death, since ischemic heart disease and sudden cardiac death are major factors contributing to
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75th AnniversAry of Albert s zent-GyörGyi’s nobel Prize AwArd – szeGed 22-25 mArch, 2012
mortality worldwide, causing the premature death of millions of people every year in Western
societies. The most common cause of sudden cardiac death is ischaemia-related cardiac
arrhythmia as well as the genetic malfunction of cardiac ion channels, electrical remodeling in
cardiac hypertrophy or failure, as well as side effects of drug therapy. Therefore, protecting the
heart against ischaemia and reperfusion injury and their consequences including myocardial
infarction and sudden death is a topic of intensive investigations.
In the scientific session on Immunology and Inflammation the most recent advances on the
innate and adaptive immunity, immunoregulation, allergy, mediators of inflammation, tumor
immunology and regenerative inflammatory processes will be discussed. Special focus will be on
the immunity of the gut and skin.
In Gastroenterology, the focus will be on epithelial ion transport since it plays a fundamental role
in the maintenance and integrity of the gastrointestinal tract. They provide proper environment
for digestive processes, have a protective function, and are also involved in the homeostasis of
bodily fluids. Importantly, the derangement of epithelial secretory processes leads to a number
of diseases, including hyperacidity, cystic fibrosis and secretory diarrhoeas. In addition, an
increasing number of experimental studies has been published on the role of ion transport in
the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, such as infectious diarrhoea or inflammatory bowel
diseases.
In Molecular Biology and Genetics, the leading topics will cover discoveries from the past,
and open up new prospects for the future since the tremendous progress in Molecular Biology
and Genetics during recent decades has made it possible to gain a DNA-based insight into the
past of mankind, and has opened up opportunities for the provision of tailor-made personal
medicine in the future. The knowledge we acquired through these disciplines has revolutionized
our ideas on our past and revealed previously unforeseen possibilities for future exploitation.
The “Conference on Molecular Biology and Genetics” brings together prominent scientists
who will present accounts on the most recent advances in the field. Sessions will be devoted
to archeogenomics, gene regulation, oncogenomics, translational medicine including topics on
stem cells, gene therapy, nanomedicine, monogenic and multifactorial human diseases and their
clinical diagnosis, and animal models of human diseases.
In Neuroscience, the focus is on the possible new aspects of therapy, because a number of
neurological and psychiatric disorders lack effective therapies, in which the use of drugs to prevent
or reduce disease progression is questionable. Other disorders of the nervous system inflict damage
as a result of a single event in time, including stroke, head trauma and spinal cord injury; in these
cases, there is a great need for developing effective therapies to restore lost functions. There are
diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, in which drugs have been developed to slow disease progression,
but there is a great need to improve or restore functions that continue to decline slowly over time.
The transplantation of replacement cells into the adult nervous system or targeted delivery of
therapeutic genes to areas of ongoing degeneration have received considerable attention over the
past years. The next decade is likely to become a golden era of molecular medicine that will change
the landscape of neurological and psychiatric diagnosis and therapy.
The scientific session on tuberculosis research will focus on questions in Tuberculosis
Evolution. The recent progress in the field of Evolutionary Biology of Tuberculosis necessitates
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75th AnniversAry of Albert s zent-GyörGyi’s nobel Prize AwArd – szeGed 22-25 mArch, 2012
a new synthesis on this topic. Several questions should be addressed, among them: what is the
oldest evidence of this condition in human and animal remains? When did specific mutation(s)
of the modern strains arise? What was the relative importance of different pathogenic species of
genus Mycobacterium in past populations? Did the pre-contact American TB differ from the Old
World infection? How can we explore the dynamics of the host-pathogen co-evolution in the case
of tubercular infection? Can we reconstruct a consensual phylogeny of genus Mycobacterium?
What do we know about the evolution of susceptibility/resistance pattern among these fights?
The organizers intend to provide an opportunity for fruitful and deep scientific discussion
meetings of scientists and students from Szeged and top scientists from various parts of the
world in a friendly atmosphere by putting forth a variety of cultural and recreational programmes
to accompany the conference.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee,
looking forward to seeing you in Szeged,
András Varró Gábor Szabó József Pál
Rector’s Office, University of Szeged
Lajos Kemény László Vécsei Péter Hegyi
Dean’s Office, University of Szeged, Faculty of Medicine
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