Jeffrey M. Friedman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeffrey Friedman
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Jeffrey Friedman at the Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2018
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| Born | July 20, 1954 Orlando, Florida, US
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| Alma mater | Rockefeller University (PhD) |
| Known for | discovery of the hormone leptin and its role in regulating body weight |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular genetics |
| Institutions | Rockefeller University |
| Thesis | Regulation of liver gene expression (1986) |
Jeffrey M. Friedman, born on July 20, 1954, is a brilliant scientist who studies genes. He works at Rockefeller University in New York City. Dr. Friedman is famous for discovering a special hormone called leptin. This discovery helped us understand a lot about how our bodies control weight. It also showed why some people become obese.
Dr. Friedman is a doctor and a scientist. He studies the genetic reasons behind body weight. In 1994, he and his team found the "ob gene" in mice. They also found its human version. They later learned that injecting leptin into mice made them lose weight. This happened because leptin reduced how much food they ate. It also made them use more energy. Today, Dr. Friedman's research aims to understand human obesity. He also studies how leptin sends its weight-reducing signals in the body.
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Early Life and Education
Jeffrey Friedman was born in Orlando, Florida, on July 20, 1954. He grew up in North Woodmere, New York. He graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in 1971. As a young man, he wanted to become a doctor. He joined a six-year medical program right after high school. He earned his M.D. degree at age 22.
After a year working in a lab, he fell in love with science. Dr. Friedman said that doctors learn to accept facts. But science is about new discoveries that are always changing. He decided he wanted to do research instead. He started at Rockefeller University in 1980. He earned his Ph.D. there in 1986. Before that, he got a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1973. He also completed his medical residency at Albany Medical College in 1980.
Discovering Leptin and Its Role
Dr. Friedman started his own lab at Rockefeller University. He wanted to understand how bodies control weight. He worked with special mice to find a hormone that controls appetite. This hormone was missing in the overweight mice. After eight years, on May 8, 1994, he found it! He found the gene that makes the hormone. He named it "leptin," from the Greek word for "thin" (leptos). He said the discovery was "astonishingly beautiful." The image of the gene now hangs in his office.
Scientists believed that animals and humans tightly control their energy. Dr. Friedman's lab found leptin and its receptors. These are two key parts of the system that keeps weight steady. Leptin is a hormone made by fat tissue. The more fat you have, the more leptin your body makes. Leptin then tells your brain to eat less and use more energy. If you have less fat, leptin levels drop. This makes you feel hungrier and gain weight. This system helps keep your weight in a healthy range.
Problems with the leptin gene can cause severe obesity in animals and humans. Leptin works on special cells in the brain called neurons. These neurons control how much we eat and how much energy we use. Leptin also affects other body functions. These include female reproduction, the immune system, and other hormones like insulin.
When an animal loses weight, leptin levels go down. This drop tells the body to look for food. Dr. Friedman found that leptin can even change the brain. It can rewire the brain's feeding circuits in obese mice. Leptin strengthens the nerve cells that encourage weight loss. It also prunes the neurons that make you want to eat.
Dr. Friedman has written over 150 scientific papers and more than ten book chapters. He also helps with research on a special rat model of obesity and aging in India.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Friedman's work on obesity and the leptin gene has earned him many important awards. These include:
- 1994 and 1996 Time Magazines's Best of Science section
- 1995 Popular Science's Best of Science Award
- 1996 Heinrich Wieland Prize
- 1997 Jacobaeus Prize
- 1999 Steven C. Beering Award
- 2000 Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal
- 2000 Rolf Luft Award, Karolinska Hospital
- 2001 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
- 2001 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Metabolic Research
- 2005 Passano Award
- 2005 Elected to The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Foreign Member
- 2005 Canada Gairdner International Award
- 2007 Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal
- 2007 Danone International Prize
- 2009 Keio Medical Science Prize
- 2009 Shaw Prize for Life Sciences and Medicine
- 2009 Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence
- 2010 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate
- 2010 Robert J. and Claire Passano Foundation Award
- 2010 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
- 2012 The Foundation IPSEN 11th Endocrine Regulation Prize
- 2012 UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science
- 2012 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine (co-winner with Douglas Coleman)
- 2013 King Faisal International Prize in Medicine
- 2013 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2019 Wolf Prize in Medicine
- 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
- 2024 Princess of Asturias Awards for Technical and Scientific Research.
His work on leptin also led to many television appearances. He was interviewed by Alan Alda on the PBS show Scientific American Frontiers.
Personal Life
Dr. Friedman lives in New York City with his wife, Lily Safani. They have twin daughters named Alexandra and Nathalie.
See also
In Spanish: Jeffrey M. Friedman para niños
