Panayotis G. Katsoyannis (January 7, 1924 - May 31, 2019) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who is often credited with being the first to synthesize

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...

while leading a team at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in the early 1960s. His results synthesizing insulin were achieved almost simultaneously with that of Helmut Zahn at

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), in German ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen'', is a German public research university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With more than 47,000 students enrolled in 144 study prog ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In his early years, while doing his PhD at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

Katsoyannis had been under the mentorship of

Leonidas Zervas Leonidas Zervas (, ; 21 May 1902 – 10 July 1980) was a Greeks, Greek Organic chemistry, organic chemist who made seminal contributions in Peptide synthesis, peptide chemical synthesis. Together with his mentor Max Bergmann they laid the founda ...

, who previously developed new synthetic methods for asymmetric cysteine-containing peptides as those in insulin. Katsoyannis was also noted for his studies on the synthesis of

oxytocin Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. Present in animals since early stages of evolution, in humans it plays roles in behavior that include Human bonding, ...

and

vasopressin Mammalian vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone (ADH), arginine vasopressin (AVP) or argipressin, is a hormone synthesized from the ''AVP'' gene as a peptide prohormone in neurons in the hypothalamus, and is converted to AVP. It ...

. Following his time at the University of Pittsburgh, Katsoyannis served as the head of the division of biochemistry at the

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...

and later was appointed as the founding chairman of the department of biochemistry at

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

in 1967 where he remained until the end of his life, in later years as distinguished service professor and chair emeritus in pharmacologic and systems therapeutics. Katoyannis received the Commemorative Medallion of the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...

in 1972 on the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of insulin. He also received the Jacobi Medallion from Mount Sinai Alumni in 1995 and an honorary degree from the

University of Patras The University of Patras (UPatras; , ''Panepistímio Patrón'', ΠΠ) is a public university in Patras, Greece. It is the third-largest university in Greece with respect to the size of the student body, the staff, and the number of department ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 1997. He is a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(1966), the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

(1977), and a Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Greece (Academy of Athens) (1966). Katoyannis died on May 31, 2019, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katsoyannis, Panayotis American biochemists American people of Greek descent University of Pittsburgh faculty Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai faculty 2019 deaths 1924 births Brookhaven National Laboratory staff National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni