Harry Eagle (July 13, 1905 – June 21, 1992) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...

. He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

then studied, and later worked, at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

before moving on to the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the lat ...

. From 1961 to 1988 he worked at the

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

. He is best known for

Eagle's minimal essential medium Minimal Essential Medium (MEM) is a synthetic cell culture medium developed by Harry Eagle first published in 1959 in ''Science'' that can be used to maintain cells in tissue culture. It is based on 6 salts and glucose described in Earle's salts ...

, which is important in understanding how human and mammalian cells reproduce. He is also known for the

Eagle effect The Eagle effect, Eagle phenomenon, or paradoxical zone phenomenon, named after Harry Eagle who first described it, originally referred to the paradoxically reduced antibacterial effect of penicillin at high doses, though recent usage generally r ...

. In 1936 he was the inaugural winner of the

Eli Lilly and Company-Elanco Research Award The Eli Lilly and Company-Elanco Research Award was a scientific award presented annually by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and sponsored by the Eli Lilly and Company and its subsidiary Elanco (which became an independent company in 201 ...

. In 1973, he was a co-winner of the

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemis ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1987, he was awarded the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

for his work in the

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

Articles

*J. E. Darnell, L. Levintow, M. D. Scharff: ''Harry Eagle''. J Cellular Physiology (1970) 76,3: S. 241-252 *A. Gilman: ''Presentation of the Academy Medal to Harry Eagle, M. D.'' Bull N Y Acad Med. (1970) 46(9): S. 666-669

References

American pathologists Johns Hopkins University alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty Yeshiva University faculty 1905 births 1992 deaths National Medal of Science laureates 20th-century American physicians Albert Einstein College of Medicine faculty {{US-biologist-stub