Louis Sokoloff (October 14, 1921 – July 30, 2015) was an American

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, Biological neural network, n ...

. He is considered to be a pioneer in

functional imaging Functional imaging (or physiological imaging) is a medical imaging technique of detecting or measuring changes in metabolism, blood flow, regional chemical composition, and absorption. As opposed to structural imaging, functional imaging center ...

of the brain. Louis Sokoloff was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

from 1980. In 1981, he received the

Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is one of four annual awards presented by the Lasker Foundation. The Lasker-DeBakey award is given to honor outstanding work for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of diseas ...

. In 1987, he received the

Karl Spencer Lashley Award The Karl Spencer Lashley Award is awarded by The American Philosophical Society as a recognition of research on the integrative neuroscience of behavior. The award was established in 1957 by a gift from Dr. Karl Spencer Lashley. Recipients * 202 ...

; "For his elucidation of the physiological and biochemical processes involved in the metabolism of the brain and the application of these discoveries to the measurement of functional activity within that organ". In 1988, Sokoloff, together with

Seymour S. Kety Seymour S. Kety (August 25, 1915 – May 25, 2000) was an American neuroscientist who was credited with making modern psychiatry a rigorous and heuristic branch of medicine by applying basic science to the study of human behavior in health and ...

received the

NAS Award in the Neurosciences The NAS Award in the Neurosciences is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of extraordinary contributions to progress in the fields of neuroscience, including neurochemistry, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, devel ...

, "For developing techniques to measure brain blood flow and metabolism - valuable tools in the study of brain function that have major applications in clinical medicine." In 1996, he received the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2005. He died on July 30, 2015, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Many of his papers and biographical material are published as "The Sokoloff Papers" in Profiles in Science at the National Library of Medicine web site. (https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NL/) His wife, Betty, was an RN, served in WWII and earned a pilot's license. His son,

Kenneth Sokoloff Kenneth Lee Sokoloff (July 27, 1952 – May 21, 2007) was an American economic historian who was broadly interested in the interaction between initial factor endowments, institutions, and economic growth. In particular, he examined the influence ...

, was an economic historian. He also had a daughter, Ann.

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