Irvine Heinly Page (January 7, 1901 – June 10, 1991) was an American physiologist who played an important part in the field of hypertension for almost 60 years while working at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

as the first Chair of Research.Frohlich ED, Dustan HP, Bumpus FM
Irvine H. Page: 1901-1991. The Celebration of a Leader
' Hypertension 1991;18:443–445.

Early life and education

Irvine Page was born on January 7, 1901, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended college at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, with an undergraduate degree in chemistry (1921) and an M.D. degree in 1926. Page completed his internship at

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

s in New York City.

Career

After completing his internship, Page then performed research in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

at Woods Hole and then New York. In 1928 he joined the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where he started a new department of

neurochemistry Neurochemistry is the study of chemicals, including neurotransmitters and other molecules such as psychopharmaceuticals and neuropeptides, that control and influence the physiology of the nervous system. This particular field within neuroscience ...

. With the coming rise to power of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, Page left Munich in 1931 to work with

Donald Van Slyke Donald Dexter Van Slyke (March 29, 1883 – May 4, 1971) was a Dutch American biochemist. His achievements included the publication of 317 journal articles and 5 books, as well as numerous awards, among them the National Medal of Science and t ...

at The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City. He worked at the Rockefeller Institute through 1937. Page then moved back to Indianapolis as Director of the Laboratory for Clinical Research at

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and ...

at City Hospital. In 1945, Page then organized a new research division at the

. His first contributions were published in the early 1930s and his most recent, "Hypertension Research: A Memoir: 1920–1960", in 1988. He is perhaps best known for the co-discovery of serotonin in 1948, although his pre-eminence is a matter of record in four other areas: the

renin–angiotensin system The renin–angiotensin system (RAS), or renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS), is a hormone system that regulates blood pressure, fluid and electrolyte balance, and systemic vascular resistance. When renal blood flow is reduced, ...

, the mosaic theory of hypertension, treatment of hypertension and public and professional advocacy of the recognition of this condition and its effects in daily life. In earlier work he published on the

of the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...

. Page received many honors for his work. He was on the cover of Time magazine in 1955. He was president of the American Heart Association (1956–57); he received ten

honorary degrees An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

and a number of prestigious awards—the Ida B. Gould Memorial Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1957); Albert

Lasker Award The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, which was ...

(1958);

Gairdner Foundation International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...

(1963); Distinguished Award of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's sta ...

(1964); Oscar B. Hunter Award (1966); Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

(1966);

Passano Foundation The Passano Foundation, established in 1945, provides an annual award to a research scientist whose work – done in the United States – is thought to have immediate practical benefits. Many Passano laureates have subsequently won the Nobel Priz ...

Award (1967); and the Stouffer Prize (now the

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

Award) for Hypertension Research in 1970. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971 and published his memoirs in 1988. The American Heart Associatio
Irvine H. Page Young Investigator Research Award
and th
Irvine Page – Alva Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award
are named in his honor.

Later life

A collection of his papers is held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

Personal life

He was married to Beatrice Allen, a dancer, poet, and author of the book, The Bracelet. His sister was Ruth Page, a noted American ballet dancer. Page was also a gifted musician, a trait he passed on to his two sons, Christopher Page and Nicholas Page. Page lived in Cleveland, OH with his wife and children, summering in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod. His family home on the Cape is now owned and occupied by his granddaughter and great-grandchildren.

Death

Having retired to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Page died suddenly on June 10, 1991, at the age of 90. He had been previously injured in an auto accident in March 1990 and suffered from poor health due to a prior stroke and a prior heart attack.

Selected publications

* * * *Page, Irvine (1972). ''Speaking to the Doctor: His Responsibilities and Opportunities: Selected Editorials from Modern Medicine''. Minneapolis: Proforum.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Irvine Cornell University alumni American physiologists 1901 births 1991 deaths Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American scientists Scientists from Indiana People from Indianapolis Cleveland Clinic people Members of the National Academy of Medicine Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences