John B. Glen

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John Baird Glen, also known as Iain Glen, is a Scottish veterinarian. [1] [2] Glen is the first to have synthesized the anesthetic propofol. [3]

Biography

Born in Scotland, Glen grew up on a small farm. [4] He studied veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow. [5] After the completion of his study, he became a practicing animal surgeon. [4]

In 1973, while working at ICI Pharmaceuticals in Alderly Park, Cheshire, England, Glen studied large series of compounds to identify those with desirable anesthetic and hypnotic properties, synthesizing propofol. Glen was able to solubilize the formula with soybean oil and purified egg lecithin. 2018, he received the prestigious Lasker Award for discovering propofol. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

General anaesthetics are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of awareness to painful stimuli, sufficient to facilitate surgical applications in clinical and veterinary practice. General anaesthetics do not act as analgesics and should also not be confused with sedatives. General anaesthetics are a structurally diverse group of compounds whose mechanisms encompass multiple biological targets involved in the control of neuronal pathways. The precise workings are the subject of some debate and ongoing research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sevoflurane</span> Inhalational anaesthetic

Sevoflurane, sold under the brand name Sevorane, among others, is a sweet-smelling, nonflammable, highly fluorinated methyl isopropyl ether used as an inhalational anaesthetic for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. After desflurane, it is the volatile anesthetic with the fastest onset. While its offset may be faster than agents other than desflurane in a few circumstances, its offset is more often similar to that of the much older agent isoflurane. While sevoflurane is only half as soluble as isoflurane in blood, the tissue blood partition coefficients of isoflurane and sevoflurane are quite similar. For example, in the muscle group: isoflurane 2.62 vs. sevoflurane 2.57. In the fat group: isoflurane 52 vs. sevoflurane 50. As a result, the longer the case, the more similar will be the emergence times for sevoflurane and isoflurane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propofol</span> Intravenous medication used in anesthesia

Propofol is the active component of an intravenous anesthetic formulation used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. It is chemically termed 2,6-diisopropylphenol. The formulation was originally approved under the brand name Diprivan. Numerous generic offerings of this formulation now exist. Intravenous administration is used to induce unconsciousness after which anesthesia may be maintained using a combination of medications. It is manufactured as part of a sterile injectable emulsion formulation using soybean oil and lecithin, giving it a white milky coloration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desflurane</span> Chemical compound

Desflurane (1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether) is a highly fluorinated methyl ethyl ether used for maintenance of general anesthesia. Like halothane, enflurane, and isoflurane, it is a racemic mixture of (R) and (S) optical isomers (enantiomers). Together with sevoflurane, it is gradually replacing isoflurane for human use, except in economically undeveloped areas, where its high cost precludes its use. It has the most rapid onset and offset of the volatile anesthetic drugs used for general anesthesia due to its low solubility in blood.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Laborit</span> French surgeon, neurobiologist, writer and philosopher (1914-95)

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Veterinary anesthesia is anesthesia performed on non-human animals by a veterinarian or a Registered Veterinary Technician. Anesthesia is used for a wider range of circumstances in animals than in people, due to animals' inability to cooperate with certain diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Veterinary anesthesia includes anesthesia of the major species: dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, as well as all other animals requiring veterinary care such as birds, pocket pets, and wildlife.

Emery Neal Brown is an American statistician, neuroscientist, and anesthesiologist. He is the Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a practicing anesthesiologist at MGH. At MIT he is the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and professor of computational neuroscience, the associate director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and the Director of the Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology.

Paul Frederick White, FANZCA is a researcher in anesthesiology, research consultant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at Los Angeles, retired professor and former holder of the Margaret Milam McDermott Distinguished Chair of Anesthesiology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and the author and editor of several journals and textbooks on the subject. With over 450 peer-reviewed publications and authorship in 9 anesthesiology textbooks, White has helped shape and revolutionize the field of ambulatory anesthesia and intravenous anesthesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tu Youyou</span> Chinese pharmaceutical chemist (born 1930)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James P. Allison</span> American immunologist and Nobel laureate (born 1948)

James Patrick Allison is an American immunologist and Nobel laureate who holds the position of professor and chair of immunology and executive director of immunotherapy platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg L. Semenza</span> American physician (born 1956)

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Total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) refers to the intravenous administration of anesthetic agents to induce a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. The first study of TIVA was done in 1872 using chloral hydrate, and the common anesthetic agent propofol was licensed in 1986. TIVA is currently employed in various procedures as an alternative technique of general anesthesia in order to improve post-operative recovery.

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References

  1. Thomas, Katie (11 September 2018). "Lasker Awards Given for Work in Genetics, Anesthesia and Promoting Women in Science" via NYTimes.com.
  2. Hofschneider, Mark. "Discovery and development of propofol, a widely used anesthetic". Lasker Foundation.
  3. https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/discovery-and-development-of-propofol-a-widely-used-anesthetic/
  4. 1 2 "If you've had anesthesia, you can likely thank this veterinarian who just won a top science prize". www.science.org.
  5. Dankoski, Elyse (1 October 2018). "The 2018 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award recognizes John Baird Glen for the discovery of propofol". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 128 (10): 4198–4200. doi:10.1172/JCI124375. PMC   6159986 via www.jci.org.
  6. https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/129/6/1055/18248/John-Iain-Glen-Wins-2018-Lasker-Prize-for
  7. "British vet wins top research award for breakthrough anaesthetic". the Guardian. 11 September 2018.