Ralph Isadore Dorfman (1911–1985) was a Jewish-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 ...

. His work on

metabolism Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

and the use of

steroid A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, 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 t ...

hormones contributed to the development of the

combined oral contraceptive pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be Oral administration, taken orally by women. It is the oral form of combi ...

."Dr. Ralph I. Dorfman"
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', December 12, 1985, accessed February 5, 2019 Dorfman was born in Chicago, Illinois.Simoni, Robert D., Robert L. Hill, Martha Vaughan and Herbert Tabor
"The Metabolism of Steroid Hormones: Ralph I. Dorfman"
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Journal of Biological Chemistry The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...

'',

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel (Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Ph ...

, December 12, 2003 He received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

and a doctorate from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. After teaching at several institutions, including

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, he became a director at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,325 according to the 2020 United States census, in nearly 15,000 households. Incorporated in 1727, Shrewsbury prospere ...

, which, during his 13-year tenure there, "became an international center for bioassays and the study of the chemistry, biochemistry, and biology of steroid hormones." While working at the Worcester Foundation, Dorfman was a research consultant to the

Syntex Laboratorios Syntex SA (later Syntex Laboratories, Inc.) was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in January 1944 by Russell Marker, Emeric Somlo, and Federico Lehmann to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yams called ''c ...

Corporation, starting in 1950. There he helped to develop the first publicly available birth control pill. In 1964, Dorfman joined Syntex full-time, eventually serving as president of Syntex Research in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

from 1973 to 1976. Dorfman's research also focused on treatments for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and originated the reproductive biology concept of anti-estrogens and anti-androgens. Late in his career, Dorfman returned to academia serving as a visiting professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, 1967–1973, and finally as a consulting professor until his death. In addition to his numerous papers, Dorfman was the author or editor of 14 books and founded the journal ''

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 ...

''."Ralph I. Dorfman Lectureship"
Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, accessed February 5, 2018 Dorfman died of complications of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California, at the age of 74. His brother was Albert Dorfman, and his grandson is Barnaby Dorfman.

References

"Ralph I. Dorfman" at National Academy of Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorfman, Ralph 20th-century American biochemists Jewish American scientists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1911 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American Jews