William P. Murphy Sr. | |
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 | |
| Born | William Parry Murphy (1892-02-06)February 6, 1892[1] Stoughton, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 1987(1987-10-09) (aged 95) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | University of Oregon Harvard Medical School |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, researcher, physician |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2; includingWilliam Jr. |
| Awards | Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh(1930) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[2](1934) |
William Parry Murphy Sr. (February 6, 1892 – October 9, 1987) was an American physician who shared theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1934 withGeorge Richards Minot andGeorge Hoyt Whipple for their combined work in devising and treating macrocyticanemia (specifically,pernicious anemia).[1][2][3]
Murphy was born on February 6, 1892, atStoughton,Wisconsin[3] and moved toCondon, Oregon as a youth.[4] His father, Thomas Francis Murphy, was a congregational minister of English and Irish heritage. His mother, Rosa Anna Parry, was of a Welsh landowning background. Murphy was educated at the public schools of Wisconsin and Oregon. He completed his A.B. degree in 1914 from theUniversity of Oregon.[3] He completed his M.D. in 1922 fromHarvard Medical School.[1][3]
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Murphy's later work in pernicious anemia would build on that of Whipple. In 1924, Whipple bled dogs to make them anemic (work inspired by war injury work), and then fed them various substances to gauge their improvement.[5] He discovered that ingesting large amounts of liver seemed to restore anemia more quickly of all foods. Minot and Whipple then set about to chemically isolate the curative substance. These investigations showed that iron in the liver was responsible for curing anemia from bleeding, but meanwhile liver had been tried on people withpernicious anemia and some effect was seen there, also.[citation needed] The active ingredient in this case, found serendipitously, was not iron, but rather a water-soluble extract containing a new substance. From this extract, chemists were ultimately able to isolatevitamin B12 from the liver. Even before the vitamin had been completely characterized, the knowledge that raw liver and its extracts treated pernicious anemia (previously a terminal disease) was a major advance in medicine.[citation needed] Minot and Murphy's famous paperTreatment of pernicious anemia by a special diet was published in 1926.[6]
In 1930, Murphy was awarded theCameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh withGeorge Minot.[citation needed]
In 1951, Murphy was one of seven Nobel Laureates who attended the 1st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.[7]
Murphy married Pearl Harriett Adams (died 1980) on September 10, 1919. They had a son,William P. Murphy Jr., and a daughter, Priscilla Adams.[8]
Murphy died on October 9, 1987 inBrookline, Massachusetts at the age of 95.[1]
including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1934Pernicious Anemia| International | |
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