About
Lowry was the youngest of a family of five children. His father was a teacher and later an administrator in the Chicago public school system. His three brothers and sister all earned graduate degrees in various fields, and Lowry was inspired to emulate his siblings. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, for his undergraduate studies, having intended to major in chemical engineering. However, upon the advice of a fellow student, he ended up shifting his focus towards biochemistry.[1] After graduating from Northwestern in 1932, he enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he sought to study "physiological chemistry".[2] During his second year, a dean of the university offered Lowry admission to the university's MD-PhD program, which he accepted and from which he graduated in 1937. Despite that he earned a medical degree, Lowry never practiced medicine.[2] After graduating from the University of Chicago with his two doctoral degrees, Lowry failed in his attempt to secure a postdoctoral fellowship. He left Chicago to work at Harvard University under A. Baird Hastings. During Lowry's time at Harvard, Hastings was able to arrange for Lowry to work for five months at the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he worked with Kaj Ulrik Linderstrøm-Lang. By 1942, Otto Bessey persuaded his friend Lowry to join him at the newly established Public Health Research Institute in New York City, where Lowry would work until 1947.[1] In 1947, Washington University in St. Louis invited Lowry to head its Department of Pharmacology despite the fact that Lowry had never taken a course in pharmacology and his research was only tangentially related to that field. Nevertheless, Lowry served as the department head for the next twenty-nine years. He also served as dean of the Washington University School of Medicine from 1955 to 1958.[2] He was eventually succeeded as department head by Philip Needleman, but Lowry continued to work at Washington University for many years after becoming a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology.[1][3] Lowry was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1964. He died of Alzheimer's disease, at the age of 85, on June 29, 1996.
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Experience
Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology
Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine)
Chair of the Department of Pharmacology
Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine)
Education
The University of Chicago (UChicago)
Ph.D. in Physiological Chemistry and Medical
Passout Year: 1937Publication
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May, 1999
Myogenin Induces a Shift of Enzyme Activity from Glycolytic to Oxidative Metabolism in Muscles of Transgenic Mice
Physical training regulates muscle metabolic and contractile properties by altering gene expression. Electrical activity evoked in muscle fiber membrane during physical activity is crucial f...
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March, 1993
Changes in alveolar oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration and oxygen consumption during lung preservation The maintenance of aerobic metabolism duri...
The lung is the only organ to which oxygen may be supplied after its blood supply is stopped. Before this study, we were not certain whether lung cells were able to maintain aerobic metaboli...
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January, 1968
QUANTITATIVE HISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GLYCOLYTIC INTERMEDIATES AND COFACTORS WITH AN OIL WELL TECHNIQUE
Quantitative histochemical measurements of glycolytic intermediates and cofactors in samples of the order of 0.1 µg dry weight have been made possible by the use of enzymatic fluorometric m...
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April, 1955
THE QUANTITATIVE HISTOCHEMISTRY OF BRAIN IV. LACTIC, MALIC, AND GLUTAMIC DEHYDROGENASES
The brain is an exceedingly complex histological structure, and, while some information is available concerning the metabolism of brain as a whole, very little is known concerning the metabo...
Honours & Awards

Borden Award
Association of American Medical Colleges
Year: 1966
Merit Award
Northwestern University
Year: 1963
John Scott Award
USA
Year: 1963
Midwest Award
American Chemical Society
Year: 1962
Award
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Year: 1957Doctoral and Master Thesis Guided
Oliver Howe Lowry
A micro method for blood acetone bodies involving only one distillation and its application in studies on rats (Ph.D. Thesis)
Institute : University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Area of research: Biochemistry
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S9-012025-0808021

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