Robert George (February 10, 1923 – April 13, 2006) was an American pharmacologist who specifically researched

neuropharmacology Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behavior. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmac ...

and helped create the Brain Research Institute at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA). He spent the majority of his career at UCLA (1958–1991) and was the co-

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the '' Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology'' from 1977–1990.

Early life and education

Robert George was born on February 10, 1923 in

Turlock, California Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its estimated 2019 population of 73,631 made it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto. History Founded on December 22, 1871, by prominent grain farmer Jo ...

. His mother, Nabat, and his father, Isaac, were both emigrants from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

to California. He had three siblings, all of whom were also born in Iran before the family emigration in 1920. His father died of an illness in 1923, a month after his birth, at the age of 32. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, where he also played on its

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

as a halfback. He then attended 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 ...

for a PhD in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

Career

Following his PhD, he conducted postdoctoral research under E. Leong Way at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. He then spent another year of postdoctoral research at the

Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a research institution dedicated to discovering what causes mental illness and diseases of the brain. In addition, its aim is to help identify new treatments for them and ways ...

in London with the neuroendocrinologist Geoffrey Harris, where he was funded by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. He joined the faculty of the

in 1958, where he remained until his retirement in 1991. He became a full professor in 1967. He was a professor

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

until his death in 2006. Within the Department of Pharmacology he was the vice-chair and graduate advisor from 1970 to 1977. His research was primarily focused on

, or the research of drugs that acted on the brain. In particular, he studied

analgesics An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

(painkillers), including

opiate An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonis ...

s, and their interactions with

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

s produced by the thyroid, pituitary, hypothalamic, and adrenal glands. At UCLA, he helped found the Brain Research Institute. In 1971, he was appointed an associate editor at the '' Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology''; he was made the co-

in 1977 along with Ronald Okun. George remained co-editor until 1990, at which time he was succeeded by Arthur K. Cho.

Personal life and death

He married Helga ; they had a daughter, Kathleen, and a son, Philip. He died of

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unst ...

on April 13, 2006 at the age of eighty-three.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Robert 1923 births 2006 deaths Neurological disease deaths in the United States Deaths from Huntington's disease People from Turlock, California American people of Iranian descent American pharmacologists Neuropharmacologists University of Oregon alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors