Laszlo Lorand (23 March 1923 – 6 December 2018) was a

Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...

biochemist who studied clotting of blood and other bodily fluids. A professor emeritus in cell and molecular biology at the

Feinberg School of Medicine The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, formerly Northwestern Medical School from 1906 to 2002, is the medical school of Northwestern University and is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in ...

, Lorand was a longtime professor in the departments of chemistry and molecular biosciences at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

before transferring to Northwestern's medical school. Lorand was a co-discoverer of the substance that later became known as

factor XIII Factor XIII, or fibrin stabilizing factor, is a plasma protein and zymogen. It is activated by thrombin to factor XIIIa which crosslinks fibrin in coagulation. Deficiency of XIII worsens clot stability and increases bleeding tendency. Huma ...

. He was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

Biography

Lorand was born in Győr, Hungary. His father was murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, but he himself managed to avoid being sent there. Lorand was a Holocaust survivor and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He submitted a record of his experiences in the Holocaust to the Yad Vaashem witness data base programme in Israel. He studied medicine in Hungary and received an absolutorium from the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. In Hungary, he was mentored by biochemists

Albert Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Rapoltu Mare, Nagyrápolt (; September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with first isolating vitamin C and disc ...

and Kalman Laki. Owing to events related to the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Lorand left Budapest for England in December 1948, just after finishing his medical school coursework. The biomolecular structure department at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

was chaired by physicist and molecular biologist

William Astbury William Thomas Astbury FRS (25 February 1898 – 4 June 1961) was an English physicist and molecular biologist who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. His work on keratin provided the foundation for Linus Pauli ...

. He became interested in Lorand's prior work on the viscosity of

fibrin Fibrin (also called Factor Ia) is a fibrous protein, fibrous, non-globular protein involved in the Coagulation, clotting of blood. It is formed by the action of the protease thrombin on fibrinogen, which causes it to polymerization, polymerize. ...

. Lorand earned a Ph.D. in biomolecular structure from Leeds in 1951. Lorand was a professor at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, and then he came to Northwestern and spent many years in the departments of chemistry and molecular biosciences. In 1993, he transferred to Northwestern's

. Lorand is associated with the Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute. He was the co-editor of ''Proteolytic Enzymes'', a volume of the scientific series ''

Methods in Enzymology ''Methods in Enzymology'' is a book-series of scientific publications focused primarily on research methods in biochemistry by Academic Press, created by Sidney P. Colowick and Nathan O. Kaplan. Content Historically, each volume has centered o ...

''. He was a co-discoverer of

, which was formerly referred to as Laki–Lorand factor and fibrin stabilizing factor. In 1983, Lorand was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. He was elected to the

in 1987. Lorand met Joyce Bruner, also a scientist, in 1953. They later married, and Joyce Bruner-Lorand collaborated with her husband on NIH-funded studies at Northwestern for many years. Joyce died in 2010. Lorand died in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorand, Laszlo 1923 births 2018 deaths American biochemists Hungarian biochemists Northwestern University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Alumni of the University of Leeds Budapest University alumni Hungarian emigrants to the United States Wayne State University faculty Hungarian expatriates in England