Geoffrey Wingfield Harris (1913–1971) was a British physiologist and

neuroendocrinologist Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

. Often considered the "father of neuroendocrinology",Raisman, G. (1997)"An urge to explain the incomprehensible: Geoffrey Harris and the discovery of the neural control of the pituitary gland." ''Annual Reviews of Neuroscience'', 20:533-56
doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.20.1.533
/ref> he is best known for showing that the

anterior pituitary The anterior pituitary (also called the adenohypophysis or pars anterior) is a major Organ (anatomy), organ of the endocrine system. The anterior pituitary is the glandular, Anatomical terms of location#Usage in human anatomy, anterior lobe that t ...

is regulated by the

hypothalamus The hypothalamus (: hypothalami; ) is a small part of the vertebrate brain that contains a number of nucleus (neuroanatomy), nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrin ...

via the

hypophyseal portal system The hypophyseal portal system is a system of blood vessels in the microcirculation at the base of the brain, connecting the hypothalamus with the anterior pituitary. Its main function is to quickly transport and exchange hormones between the hyp ...

. His work established the principles for the 1977 Nobel Prize-winning discovery of hypothalamic hormones by Schally and Guillemin.

Education and career

Harris received his undergraduate degree from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1936, and went on to attend medical training at St. Mary's Hospital in London until 1939.Sawin, C. T. (1998
Geoffrey Harris and the Brain's Control of the Pituitary Gland.
''The Endocrinologist'', 8(2):117-122. In 1940, he became a demonstrator of Anatomy at Cambridge, and helped train physicians for the war effort.Donovan, B. T. (1972
Geoffrey W. Harris (1913-1971)
" ''Neuroendocrinology'', 10:52-60. He earned his

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

from Cambridge in 1944 with a thesis on electrophysiological stimulation of

posterior pituitary The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland which is part of the endocrine system. Unlike the anterior pituitary, the posterior pituitary is not glandular, but largely a collection of axonal projec ...

hormone release. In 1952, he became a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, where he was when elected into the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. In 1962, he moved to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he began the Medical Research Council Neuroendocrinology Unit. In 1970, Harris was named an honorary member of the

American Association for Anatomy The American Association for Anatomy (AAA), is an international scientific society of Biomedical research, biomedical researchers and educators committed to advancing anatomical science through research, education, and professional development. ...

. He was awarded the Dale Medal from the British Endocrinological Society in 1971.

Research

In the late 1940s, Harris' early research showed the hypothalamus, but not the pituitary directly, could be electrically stimulated and led to ovulation in rabbits. These experiments led to his hypothesis that the anterior pituitary gland is regulated in a "neurohumoral" manner through the blood vessels between the hypothalamus and the pituitary, the hypophyseal portal system. In collaboration with Dora Jacobsohn, he established that blood flows from the hypothalamus to the pituitary through these vessels, and that vascular access to the

median eminence The median eminence is generally defined as the portion of the ventral hypothalamus from which the portal vessels arise. The median eminence is a small swelling on the tuber cinereum, posterior to and on top of the pituitary stalk; it lies in th ...

is required for pituitary stimulation. He also showed that the brain was the site of negative feedback for gonadal sex

steroids A steroid is an organic compound with four fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter mem ...

. Harris was part of the scientific race to characterize the "hypothalamic releasing factors" released into the median eminence, but lacked the funding of competing labs and preferred bioassays to faster immunoassays. Andrew Schally and

Roger Guillemin Roger Charles Louis Guillemin (; January 11, 1924 – February 21, 2024) was a French-American neuroscientist. He received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1977 for ...

ultimately shared the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

for the structure and function of

GnRH Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a releasing hormone responsible for the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary. GnRH is a tropic peptide hormone synthesized and released ...

in 1977, after Harris' death in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Geoffrey Wingfield 1913 births 1971 deaths British physiologists Alumni of the University of Cambridge