Bernard Beryl Brodie

Bernard Beryl Brodie
Born	7 August 1907 Liverpool, United Kingdom
Died	28 February 1989 (aged 81) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Education	McGill University New York University
Known for	Studies of drug metabolism and drug therapy
Awards	Distinguished Service Award of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare- 1958 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research- 1967 National Medal of Science- 1968
Scientific career
Fields	Pharmacology
Institutions	New York University 1935-1950 National Institutes of Health 1950-1970 Hoffmann-LaRoche Pennsylvania State University

Bernard Beryl Brodie (7 August 1907 – 28 February 1989) was a founding scientist in the area of biochemical and neurochemical pharmacology whose work in the 1940s and 1950s had great impact. He was a major figure in the fields of drug metabolism and drug therapy, studying how the absorption and interactions of drugs in the body. Brodie helped to found and lead the Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology at the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, one of the National Institutes of Health. He was a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.^[1]

Career

Brodie was born in Liverpool, England on August 7, 1907, to a Jewish family, who emigrated to Ottawa, Canada in 1911. In 1926 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, where he learned boxing, winning a Canadian Army championship for his weight division.^[1]

Brodie earned an undergraduate degree from McGill University, graduating in 1931. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from New York University (NYU) in 1935. After graduation, he accepted a position in the Pharmacology Department at NYU, working with George B. Wallace. Brodie developed methods for measurement of drug metabolism, disposition, and response, which enabled him to generalize from experimental data to underlying principles and concepts. During World War II, Brodie played a key role at the Goldwater Research Service group at NYU, led by James A. Shannon.^[1]

In 1950, Brodie was recruited by Shannon to join the National Heart Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, one of the National Institutes of Health. Brodie founded the pharmacology laboratory there, serving as head until he retired in 1970.^[1] He continued to a teach pharmacology at Pennsylvania State University and acted as a consultant to Hoffmann-LaRoche laboratories in Nutley, New Jersey.^[2]

Research

During World War II, Brodie and others in the Goldwater Research Service group at NYU were tasked by James A. Shannon with developing an effective antimalarial therapy for use by allied troops. With Sidney Udenfriend, Brodie developed an assay that revealed the localization of atabrine in liver, skeletal muscle, and plasma. This led to the development of therapeutic regimens involving a high initial loading dose followed by small doses to maintain effective atabrine levels in plasma. In addition to establishing the basis for the effective treatment of malaria, Brodie's pioneering work established that blood drug levels were important in guiding therapeutic dosages. In January, 1947, he published several papers, based on the atabrine work, that described general principles for the separation and accurate measurement of drugs and their metabolites.^[1] His finding that drugs induced similar levels of response in humans and animals created a basis for the use of animal drug testing as a step towards determining whether they were suitable for humans.^[3]

Together with Julius Axelrod, Brodie discovered how two popular headache remedies of the day were causing the illness methemoglobinemia, a non-lethal blood condition. They found that acetanilide is metabolized to aniline, and phenacetin to p-phenetidin. Brodie and Axelrod identified another metabolite, paracetamol, as beneficial, and suggested that manufacturers use it instead. It was later marketed as the analgesic Tylenol.^[4][5]

Brodie also did research on anesthetic and hypnotic drugs. He correlated the distribution and clinical characteristics of thiopental, explaining Its rapid onset of action and its short duration as an anesthetic.^[1] He discovered that procainamide was effective in the treatment of severe heart arrhythmia.^[6] He also pioneered a drug therapy for gout.^[2]

Brodie determined that specific drugs affected the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, which opened up the possibility of using anti-psychotic drugs to affect brain functioning and treat mental and emotional disorders.^[3][7] His work also helps to minimize toxic effects and increase drug effectiveness through appropriate selection of dosages. He proposed an approach to the treatment of schizophrenia, studying the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain.^[8]

The biography, Apprentice to Genius by Robert Kanigel, describes Brodie's scientific career and the impact he had on a group of scientists who have gone on to make prize-winning breakthroughs in biomedical science.^[9]

Awards

Brodie was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1966 and held memberships in the American Chemical Society, the American Heart Association, the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and others.^[3]

In 1967, Brodie received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for more than 30 years of work resulting in "extraordinary contributions to biochemical pharmacology."^[8] He has had a "profound influence" on pharmacology and the treatment of cardiovascular disease, emotional and behavioral disorders mental disorders, emotional disorders and cancer.^[8]

He has also received the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's Distinguished Service Award (1958),^[10] the National Medal of Science, presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson (1968),^[11] and the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement (1970).^[12]

He was the author or co-author of more than 350 scientific publications.^[2][10]

The Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition was first given in his honor in 1978 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.^[13] The neuroscience department of the University of Cagliari was named in his honour by a former student, Gian Luigi Gessa.^[14]

Brodie died in 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia at the age of 81.^[2][15]

Family

Bernard Brodie was a brother of polio researcher Maurice Brodie.^[16]

References

1. Costa, E; Karczmar, A G; Vesell, E S (April 1989). "Bernard B. Brodie and the Rise of Chemical Pharmacology". Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology. 29 (1): 1–22. doi:10.1146/annurev.pa.29.040189.000245. ISSN 0362-1642. PMID 2658766. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
2. Narvaez, Alfonso A. (2 March 1989). "Bernard B. Brodie, 81, a Pioneer In Drug Therapy Research, Dies". The New York Times. pp. B16. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
3. "Bernard B. Brodie". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
4. "Work on the Sympathomimetic Amines, 1946-1958". Julius Axelrod - Profiles in Science. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
5. Snyder, Solomon H. (February 2005). "Julius Axelrod (1912–2004)". Nature. 433 (7026): 593. doi:10.1038/433593a. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 15703735. S2CID 4413335.
6. Kanigel, Robert (14 March 1989). "One Scientist's Creative Way". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
7. "Bernard Beryl Brodie". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
8. Hofschneider, Mark. "Physiological effects of drugs". Lasker Foundation. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
9. "Apprentice to Genius: The Making of a Scientific Dynasty by Robert Kanigel ‧ Release Date: Oct. 8, 1986". Kirkus Reviews. 15 September 1986. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
10. Whitaker, Joseph D. (2 March 1989). "RESEARCH SCIENTIST BERNARD BERYL (STEVE) BRODIE, 79, DIES". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
11. "Awards: Medal of Science". Chemical & Engineering News Archive. 47 (2): 12–13. 13 January 1969. doi:10.1021/cen-v047n002.p012a. ISSN 0009-2347.
12. "Dr. Bernard B. Brodie Receives Four Honors For Studies on Drugs" (PDF). The NIH Record. Vol. XXII, no. 14. 8 July 1970. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
13. "Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition". American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Retrieved 15 March 2023.
14. "Meet the Experts: Interview with Miriam Melis | Fundación CANNA: Scientific studies and cannabis testing". www.fundacion-canna.es. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
15. Bickel, M. H. (October 1989). "In Memoriam: BERNARD B. BRODIE". Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. 65 (4): 241–244. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0773.1989.tb01165.x.
16. "Dr. Bernard Brodie honored in US". Ottawa Journal. 3 April 1940.