Abstract
Ronald W. Estabrook, PhD
Dr. Ronald W, Estabrook was born in Albany, New York on January 3, 1926. He was educated in the public school system before entering the Navy in 1943. Initially trained in the Navy V-12 program at Princeton University, he graduated from Officer Training School, University of Notre Dame, in 1945 as an Ensign. He was assigned to a subchaser in Miami, Florida, followed by duty in mine warfare where he served as line office and navigator while his ship was sweeping mine fields in Okinawa and Japan. Upon discharge he continued his undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where he graduated with a BS (Biology) in 1950. He married June Elizabeth Templeton of Albany, NY on August 23, 1947. They have four children, seven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
Dr. Estabrook did his graduate training in biochemistry at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, under the supervision of Elmer Stotz completing his dissertation titled “Studies on the Cytochromes in Heart Muscle Extracts” (PhD 1954). He then accepted a post doctoral position in biophysics to work with Britton Chance at the Johnson Research Foundation, University of Pennsylvania. After 3 years of research on the cytochromes of mitochondria, he then studied at the Molteno Institute, Cambridge University, in England with David Kielin (the discoverer of cytochromes), In 1959 Dr. Estabrook joined the faculty of the School of Medicine of The University of Pennsylvania where he advanced to the rank of Professor of Physical Biochemistry. It was during this time, in the early 1960’s, that Dr. Estabrook, together with Drs. David Cooper and Otto Rosenthal of the Department of Surgery of the University of Pennsylvania, carried out studies that discovered the enzymatic (functional) properties of the hemoprotein, now known as cytochrome P450. This collaborative study led to the initial characterization of the role of P450s in the metabolism of steroids and drugs. Today we recognize the importance to biology, in particular toxicology and environmental health, of this interesting group of oxygenating enzymes (P450s) and the seminal role the early findings by Cooper, Rosenthal, and Estabrook have made to medicine.
In 1968 Dr. Estabrook moved to Dallas, Texas, to serve as Virginia Lazenby O’Hara Professor of Biochemistry and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. In his 14-year tenure as Chairman of the Biochemistry Department, he built a world-recognized center of biochemical research, in particular research related to the cytochrome P450s. In addition, Dr. Estabrook served as the first Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Dallas campus of the University of Texas. In 1982 Dr. Estabrook returned to the laboratory bench where he applied the techniques of molecular biology to the study of the enzymatic properties of different P45s expressed in different types of cells. In addition, he and his colleagues in Dallas have focused on the potential commercial application of P450 enzymes to major problems of chemical synthesis, drug discovery, and the biomodification of organic systems. In 1990 Dr. Estabrook was named the occupant of the Cecil and Ida Green Chair in the Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. In 1997 Dr, Estabrook was appointed Acting-Director of the Cecil and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology.
In 2006, at the age of 80 years, Dr. Estabrook retired and was named the University of Texas System Ashbel Smith Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry. Also in 2008 University of Texas Southwestern Medical School introduced six Colleges for the medical education of medical students. Dr. Estabrook was honored by the naming of one of these Colleges as Estabrook College.
Dr. Estabrook has a wide range of interests and hobbies, including photography, genealogy, stamp collecting, and traveling. But highest attention goes to his family and six granddaughers, one grandson, and two great grandchildren whom he shares with his wife June.
Dr. Estabrook has coauthored over 320 publications, including the editing of 16 books. He has received many honors, including election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1974, and the National Academy of Sciences (Section 21, Biochemistry) in 1979. In addition, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1981 and a Doctor of Science from the University of Rochester (1981). He has served on numerous national and international advisory committees, including the Governing Board of National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the Council of the Institute of Medicine of the NAS.