22 Facts About Julius Axelrod

Julius Axelrod won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler.

Julius Axelrod was born in New York City, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Molly and Isadore Julius Axelrod, a basket weaver.

Julius Axelrod received his bachelor's degree in biology from the College of the City of New York in 1933.

Julius Axelrod wanted to become a physician, but was rejected from every medical school to which he applied.

Julius Axelrod worked briefly as a laboratory technician at New York University, then in 1935 he got a job with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene testing vitamin supplements added to food.

In 1946, Julius Axelrod took a position working under Bernard Brodie at Goldwater Memorial Hospital.

The research experience and mentorship Julius Axelrod received from Brodie would launch him on his research career.

Brodie and Julius Axelrod's research focused on how analgesics work.

In 1949, Julius Axelrod began work at the National Heart Institute, forerunner of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Julius Axelrod examined the mechanisms and effects of caffeine, which led him to an interest in the sympathetic nervous system and its main neurotransmitters, epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Julius Axelrod then returned to the NIH and began some of the key research of his career.

Julius Axelrod received his Nobel Prize for his work on the release, reuptake, and storage of the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine, known as adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Julius Axelrod theorized that epinephrine is held in tissues in an inactive form and is liberated by the nervous system when needed.

In 1958, Julius Axelrod discovered and characterized the enzyme catechol-O-methyl transferase, which is involved in the breakdown of catecholamines.

Julius Axelrod was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1971.

Julius Axelrod continued to work at the National Institute of Mental Health at the NIH until his death in 2004.

Julius Axelrod was awarded the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 1967 and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970.

Julius Axelrod was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1979.

Julius Axelrod was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.

Julius Axelrod injured his left eye when an ammonia bottle in the lab exploded; he would wear an eyepatch for the rest of his life.

Julius Axelrod lent his name to several protests against the imprisonment of scientists in the Soviet Union.

Julius Axelrod was a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Federation of American Scientists and the International Academy of Science, Munich.