Robert Tod Schimke (October 25, 1932 – September 6, 2014^[1]) was an American biochemist and cancer researcher.

He was born inSpokane, Washington, the son of a dentist and a homemaker.^[2]Schimke obtained an undergraduate degree fromStanford University in 1954, and an MD degree in 1958.

From 1958 to 1960 he performed internship and residency training atMassachusetts General Hospital. From 1960 to 1966 he served in thePublic Health Service at theNational Institutes of Health, where he worked on the way dietary changes affect the enzymes controlling the urea cycle in rats.^[3]In 1966 he returned to Stanford, where from 1969 to 1972 he was on the board of the faculty of pharmacology, and from 1978 to 1982 he was chairman of the department of biology.

At Stanford he examined the effects of steroid hormones on the synthesis of certain proteins, leading to new techniques in genetic engineering. In 1977, he (and doctoral student Fred Alt) discovered the phenomenon ofgene amplification in mammalian cells.^[1] This discovery had great importance for cancer research, for example, in understanding the genetic instability of cancer cells and the mechanisms by which cancer cells can resist chemotherapy. The mechanism also found applications in biotechnology, for example in the production of proteins, includingerythropoietin, of which he helped to develop a commercial version.^[2]

Later he studied regulatory mechanisms in the cells, including the regulation ofapoptosis. He was a research professor of the American Cancer Society and later professor emeritus at Stanford.

In 1985, he received theAlfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize for Cancer Research. He was a member of theNational Academy of Sciences, theInstitute of Medicine, and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was president of theAmerican Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

In 1995, Schimke was injured when a car struck the bicycle he was riding. He recovered, but needed to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. After the accident, he focused on his art, particularly painting.^[2]

In 2009, theStanford School of Medicine recognized his many contributions with the J. E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Achievement Award.

• 1932 births
• 2014 deaths
• American biochemists
• American cancer researchers
• Stanford University alumni
• Stanford University Department of Biology faculty
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• Members of the National Academy of Medicine

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