Rita Levi-Montalcini

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Rita = Levi-Montalcini.

Rita Levi-Montalcini (born April 22, 1909 in Turin) is an Italian neurologist who, = together with=20 colleague Stanley = Cohen, received the 1986 Nobel=20 Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of growth=20 factors. Today she is the oldest living Nobel = laureate.

1 Biography=20
2 Awards and=20 Honors=20
3 References=20
4 External = links=20

[edit]=20 Biography

Born in Turin to=20 a Sephardic=20 Jewish = family, together=20 with her twin sister Paola she was the youngest of four children. Her = parents=20 were Adamo Levi, an electrical engineer and gifted mathematician, and = Jen=20 Tierney, a talented painter described by Levi-Montalcini as "an = exquisite human=20 being." She decided to go to medical school after seeing a close family = friend=20 die of cancer. Levi-Montalcini overcame the objections of her father - = who=20 believed that "a professional career would interfere with the duties of = a wife=20 and mother" - and enrolled in the Turin medical school = in 1930, = studying with Giuseppe=20 Levi and graduating in 1936. She went to work as = Levi's=20 assistant, but her academic career was cut short by Mussolini's 1938 Manifesto=20 della Razza and the subsequent introduction of laws barring Jews from academic and = professional=20 careers. During World War II, she = conducted=20 experiments from a home laboratory, studying the growth of nerve=20 fibers in chicken embryos which laid the = groundwork=20 for much of her later research. Her first genetics laboratory was in her = bedroom=20 at her home. In 1943,=20 her family fled south to Florence, and she set = up a=20 laboratory there also. Her family returned to Turin in 1945.

In September of 1946 Levi-Montalcini = accepted an=20 invitation to = Washington=20 University in St. Louis, under the supervision of Professor Victor=20 Hamburger. Although the initial invitation was for one semester, she = stayed for=20 thirty years. It was here that she did her most important work: = isolating nerve=20 growth factor (NGF) from observations of certain cancerous tissues that = cause=20 extremely rapid growth of nerve cells in 1952. She was made a Full = Professor=20 in 1958, = and in 1962 = established a=20 research unit in Rome, dividing the rest = of her time=20 between there and St. = Louis.

From 1961 to 1969 she = directed the=20 Research Center of Neurobiology of the = CNR=20 (Rome), and from 1969=20 to 1978 = the=20 Laboratory of Cellular Biology.

In 2000, her twin=20 sister Paola=20 Levi-Montalcini, a popular artist, died.

In April=20 28 and 29, 2006, Levi-Montalcini, = aged 97,=20 attended the opening assembly of the newly-elected Senate of = Italy which=20 brought to the appointment of the new Speaker, and declared her = preference for=20 the centre-left candidate Franco Marini. = However,=20 Levi-Montalcini, who is the senior member of the Upper House, renounced = to be=20 the temporary president in the circumstance.

Levi-Montalcini is currently the oldest living laureate and, after Tadeusz = Reichstein,=20 the second-longest-lived laureate.

[edit]=20 Awards and Honors

In 1968, she was=20 the tenth woman elected to the United States National Academy of = Sciences.

In 1986=20 Levi-Montalcini and collaborator Stanley = Cohen=20 received the Nobel=20 Prize in Medicine, as well as the Albert=20 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. This made her the fourth = Nobel=20 Prize winner to come from Italy's small (<50,000) Jewish community, = after Emilio = Segr=C3=A8, Salvador Luria = (a=20 university colleague and friend) and Franco = Modigliani.

In 1987, she=20 received National = Medal of=20 Science, the highest honor in the scientific world of America.

In 2001 she was=20 nominated as Senator-for-life by=20 Italian President Carlo Azeglio = Ciampi.

[edit]=20 References

Levi-Montalcini, Rita, In Praise of Imperfection: My Life and = Work.=20 Basic Books, New York, 1988.=20
Yount, Lisa (1996). Twentieth Century Women Scientists. New = York:=20 Facts on File. ISBN=20 0-8160-3173-8.=20
Muhm, Myriam : Vage Hoffnung f=C3=BCr Parkinson-Kranke - = =C3=9Cberlegungen der=20 Medizin-Nobelpreistr=C3=A4gerin Rita Levi-Montalcini , S=C3=BCdde= utsche=20 Zeitung, Nr. 293, 22. Dezember 1986 [1]=20

[edit]=20 External links

Nobel=20 Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Laureates=20 (1976-2000)=20

v =E2=80=A2 d =E2=80=A2 e

1976: Blumberg= , Gajdusek=20 | 1977: Guillemin, = ;Schally,&nbs= p;Yalow |=20 1978: Arber, Nathans, Smith = |=20 1979: Cormack,&n= bsp;Hounsfield = |=20 1980: Benacerraf,&nb= sp;Dausset, Snell = |=20 1981: Sperry,&nb= sp;Hubel, Wiesel |=20 1982: Bergstr=C3=B6m<= /A>, Samuelsson,= Vane |=20 1983: McClintock = |=20 1984: Jerne, K=C3=B6hl= er, Milstein | = 1985: Brown,&nbs= p;Goldstein = |=20 1986: Coh= en, Levi-Montalcini | 1987: Tonegawa = |=20 1988: Black, Elion, <= A=20 title=3D"George H. Hitchings"=20 = href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._Hitchings">Hitchings = |=20 1989: Bishop, = Varmus = |=20 1990: Murray, Thomas = |=20 1991: Neher, Sakmann |=20 1992: Fischer, = ;Krebs |=20 1993: Roberts,&nbs= p;Sharp |=20 1994: Gilman, <= A=20 title=3D"Martin Rodbell"=20 href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Rodbell">Rodbell | = 1995: Lewis, N=C3= =BCsslein-Volhard, Wieschaus |=20 1996: Doherty, Zinkernagel= |=20 1997: Prusiner | = 1998: Furchgott,&= nbsp;Ignarro, Murad | = 1999: Blobel |=20 2000: Carlsson, <= A=20 title=3D"Paul Greengard"=20 = href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Greengard">Greengard, = Kandel

Complete=20 List | Laureates=20 (1901-1925) | Laureates=20 (1926-1950) | Laureates=20 (1951-1975) | Laureates=20 (2001- )

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