Kåre Rodahl (17 August 1917 – 10 July 2008) was a Norwegian physician and physiologist, a research fellow in

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

physiology and medicine in the United States, and a professor at the

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences ( no, Norges idrettshøgskole, NIH) is a public university located at Sognsvann in Oslo, Norway. It has the national responsibility for education and research related within sport sciences. It provides educ ...

Personal life

Rodahl was born in

Brønnøysund Brønnøysund () is a town and the administrative centre of Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is also a former municipality within Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund originally was declared a ladested in 1923 wh ...

to Anton Rodahl and Tora Oppsahl. He married British-born Joan Hunter in 1946. They first met after he landed by parachute in a pasture, close to where she was milking a cow. He died in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

in 2008.

Career

Rodahl studied medicine in

. He took a break from his studies and spent the winter of 1939–1940 at

Clavering Island Clavering Island ( da, Clavering Ø) is a large island in eastern Greenland off Gael Hamke Bay, to the south of Wollaston Foreland. The Eskimonaes ''(Eskimonæs)'' radio and weather station was on this island. It was staffed by Danish scientists ...

in eastern Greenland, along with two hunters (one of whom was the renowned polar bear hunter

Henry Rudi Henry Marentius Rudi (12 March 1889 – 15 June 1970) was a Norwegian trapper and polar bear hunter. Rudi was born in Tromsø, Norway, the son of Ole Olsen Rudi (1859–1935) and Marie Wilhelmine Henriksen (1863–1934). His father had originally ...

). During this winter he made glacier measurements for glaciologist Hans Wilhelmsson Ahlmann, and also collected

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...

s from polar bears for later analysis. While he was isolated in Greenland, Europe saw the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the

German invasion of Norway German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

, and instead of returning to Norway, Rodahl ended up in Great Britain. The hypothesis that polar bear liver contains large amounts of

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin and an essential nutrient for humans. It is a group of organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal (also known as retinaldehyde), retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids (most notably ...

was verified, and Rodahl joined another expedition for scientific seal hunting off Newfoundland. After the sealing expedition, he was transferred for military training in the United Kingdom for the rest of the war years. Back in Oslo, he graduated as a physician in 1948. His doctoral thesis in 1950 examined animal reactions to excessive intake of

. During the following years he held research positions in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

, and in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. During his employment in Fairbanks at the United States Air Force Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory he conducted experiments on unknowing Alaska Native test subjects. He had his research subjects ingest substances containing iodine-131 radioisotopes under the pretense of offering medical care. In the 1990s his actions came to light and he faced inquiries by the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE) and the National Research Council. Lanzarotta, Tess. 2020. Ethics in retrospect: Biomedical research, colonial violence, and Inupiat sovereignty in the Alaskan Arctic He returned to Oslo in 1965, where he chaired a new institute of work physiology, and from 1966 also served as a professor at the

. Rodahl published more than 200 scientific articles, and several books. Among his books are ''Tre år som fallskjermhopper'' (1945), ''The toxic effect of polar bear liver'' (1949), ''Bone as a tissue'' (1960), ''Stress på godt og ondt'' (1972), ''The physiology of work'' (1989), ''Den lange veien hjem'' (1992), and ''Aktiv alderdom'' (2002). He was decorated as a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodahl, Kare 1917 births 2008 deaths People from Brønnøy Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian physiologists Norwegian expatriates in the United States Academic staff of the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences