Kalman Laki

Kálmán Laki
Statue in Abádszalók, Hungary
Born	(1909-02-01)February 1, 1909 Szolnok, Hungary
Died	February 12, 1983(1983-02-12) (aged 74) Fairfax, Virginia, US
Alma mater	University of Szeged
Awards	Kossuth Prize[1]
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry
Institutions	National Institutes of Health

Kalman Laki (February 1, 1909 – February 12, 1983), sometimes referred to as Koloman Laki, was a Hungarian-American biochemist who contributed to the discovery of factor XIII. He was a scientist at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Biography

Born in Szolnok, Hungary, Laki completed doctoral studies in chemistry at the University of Szeged before coming to the United States in 1947 as an NIH scientist.^[2] He was the chief of the biophysical chemistry laboratory at the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases. In 1970, he became the head of a physical biochemistry laboratory at the institute.^[2]

Laki and biochemist Laszlo Lorand (whom Laki had recruited to Albert Szent-Györgyi's laboratory when Lorand was a medical student) worked on biochemical research in coagulation.^[3] A substance they identified, initially named Laki–Lorand factor, became known as factor XIII.^[4] Laki was awarded an honorary medical degree from the University of Debrecen.^[2]

Laki died at Fairfax Hospital in 1983.^[2] He had been in the hospital after minor surgery when he had a heart attack.^[5]

References

1. American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory. R.R. Bowker. 1966. p. 2970. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
2. "Dr. Kalman Laki, 74, biochemist at National Institutes of Health". The Washington Post. February 16, 1983. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
3. Lorand, L (July 2005). "Factor XIII and the clotting of fibrinogen: From basic research to medicine". Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 3 (7): 1337–1348. doi:10.1111/j.1538-7836.2005.01213.x. PMID 15978088.
4. Chandrasekhar, N; Osbahr, A; Laki, K (March 9, 1964). "The mode of action of the Laki-Lorand factor in the clotting of fibrinogen". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 15 (2): 182–187. doi:10.1016/0006-291X(64)90321-3. PMID 26410914.
5. Mihalyi, E (June 15, 1983). "Kalman Laki (1909–1983)". Thrombosis Research. 30 (6): 549–552. doi:10.1016/0049-3848(83)90262-1. Retrieved November 16, 2015.