Paola S. Timiras, born Paola Silvestri, (July 21, 1923, Rome – September 12, 2008, Berkeley, California) was an

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

studying

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

Background and education

Paola Silvestri was born on July 21, 1923, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, just after Italy's takeover by

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

and his

Fascist movement Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

. Her father, a

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may wor ...

and strong anti-Fascist, fled the following year to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where his daughter visited often. Even as a girl, she dreamed of becoming a doctor, like her grandfather and uncle. Silvestri obtained her medical degree from the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in 1947. She married

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n diplomat Nicholas Timiras and then moved with him to Canada where she studied experimental medicine and surgery at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

, gaining her doctorate in 1952. During her postdoctoral work at the University of Montreal her supervisor was the endocrinologist

Hans Selye János Hugo Bruno "Hans" Selye (; hu, Selye János; January 26, 1907 – October 16, 1982) was a pioneering Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist who conducted important scientific work on the hypothetical non-specific response of an organism to s ...

. One of Timiras's colleagues was

Roger Guillemin Roger Charles Louis Guillemin (born January 11, 1924) is a French-American neuroscientist. He received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and the Nobel prize for medicine in 1977 for his work on neurohormones, sharing the prize that year w ...

. Timiras performed her doctoral research at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in the lab of

, who had developed the first theories about the body's hormonal responses to stress. At his suggestion, Timiras applied for and won a research fellowship that allowed her to work in his lab. There, she studied how stress influences the immune system through the effects of adrenocortical hormones.

Teaching and research

Before she finished her degree, the University of Montreal hired her as an assistant professor. In 1954, she moved to Salt Lake City to pursue that line of inquiry in the pharmacology department at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. In 1955, she joined the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

physiology department as an assistant physiologist and was appointed to the faculty in 1958. She became a full professor in 1967. At UC Berkeley, Timiras studied the effects of caloric restriction on various hypothalamic nuclei, specifically the effects on cell density, estrogen receptor alpha (

ERα Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), also known as NR3A1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group A, member 1), is one of two main types of estrogen receptor, a nuclear receptor (mainly found as a chromatin-binding protein) that is activated by the sex ...

) immunoreactivity and insulin-like growth factor-1 (

IGF-1 Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), also called somatomedin C, is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin which plays an important role in childhood growth, and has anabolic effects in adults. IGF-1 is a protein that in humans is ...

) receptor immunoreactivity. In the 1960s, Timiras developed a course on the physiology of aging, one of the first such courses in the United States. In 2001, at age 78, Timiras became one of the founding members of the Center for Research and Education on Aging at the

, for which she served as the first chair.

Output and death

She contributed to or edited over 420 articles and 15 books before her death at the age of 85 of heart failure on September 12, 2008, after putting in a full day's work. Timiras had recently had heart valve replacement surgery. Nicholas Timiras, her husband of nearly 50 years, who had earned a Ph.D. degree in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

from UC Berkeley in 1978 (at age 66), died in 1996. They had a daughter and a son.

Honors and awards

*1970: President,

Iota Sigma Pi Iota Sigma Pi () is a national honor society in the United States. It was established in 1902 and specializes in the promotion of women in the sciences, especially chemistry. It also focuses on personal and professional growth for women in these ...

, Association of Women Chemists *1974-1982: Vice-President and President, International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology *1978-1982: President, International Society of Developmental Neuroscience *1984: Silver Award from the University of Chieti Medical School, Italy, for consultation on establishing courses on aging *1985: Gold Medal for Research Award, American Aging Association *1987: Andres Bello Decoration from Venezuela for contributing to international biomedical advancement *1990: Medal from University of Paris, XI, for promotion of joint Paris XI-UC Berkeley programs in biomedical sciences *1991: Medal from University of Pau (France), for fostering France-USA cultural relations *1996: Medal from University of Pisa (Italy), for fostering Italy-USA scientific/ biomedical relations

Publications

Articles

According to the Web of Science her 5 most cited papers are: # # # # #

Books

*''Physiological Basis of Aging And Geriatrics'' by Paola S. Timiras, August 2007 4th edition *''Stress, Adaptation, Longevite'' by Paola S. Timiras, January 2004 *''Physiological Basis of Aging and Geriatrics'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), September 2002 3rd edition *''Studies of Aging : Lab Manual'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Hal Sternberg (Editor), September 1999 *''Genetic Aberrancies and Neurodegenerative Disorders'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), E. Edward Bittar (Editor), Mark P. Mattson (Editor), October 1998 *''Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology : The Aging Brain'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), E. Edward Bittar (Editor), Mark P. Mattson (Editor), James, W. Geddes (Editor), March 1998 *''Brain Plasticity : Development and Aging'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Antonia Vernadakis (Editor), Guido Filogamo (Editor), Alain M. Privat (Editor), Fulvia Gremo (Editor), December 1997 *''Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology : Some Aspects of the Aging Process'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), E. Edward Bittar (Editor), October 1996 *''Hormones and Aging'', by Paola S. Timiras, Antonia Vernadakis (Editor), Wilbur D. Quay, April 1995 *''Physiological Basis of Aging and Geriatrics'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), October 1994 2nd edition *''Plasticity and Regeneration of the Nervous System'', by Paola S. Timiras, Ezio Giacobini (Editor), Alain Privat, December 1991 *''Handbook of Human Growth and Developmental Biology : Developmental Biology of Organs and Systems Part A Muscle, Blood, and Immunity'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Esmail Meisami, January 1991 *''Handbook of Human Growth and Developmental Biology : Endocrines, Sexual Development, Growth, Nutrition, and Metabolism/Part B Growth, Nutrition, and'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Esmial Meisami, February 1990 *''Handbook of Human Growth and Developmental Biology : Endocrines, Sexual Development, Growth, Nutrition, and Metabolism/Part A Endocrines and Sexual'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Esmail Meisami, October 1989 *''Handbook of Human Growth and Developmental Biology, Part B : Sensory, Motor, and Integrative Development'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Esmail Meisami, October 1988 *''Handbook of Human Growth and Development, Part A, Developmental Neurobiology'', by Paola S. Timiras (Editor), Esmail Meisami, September 1988 *''Model Systems of Development and Aging of the Nervous System'', by Paola S. Timiras, Jean M. Lauder, Antonia Vernadakis, Alain Privat, Gi, August 1987, *''A Stereotaxic Atlas of the Developing Rat Brain'', by Paola S. Timiras, Nancy Sherwood, January 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timiras, Paola S. 1923 births American endocrinologists Women endocrinologists Italian emigrants to the United States University of Utah faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty Sapienza University of Rome alumni Université de Montréal alumni 2008 deaths Italian expatriates in Canada