Robert Morgan Fink (1915-2012) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who was a professor at

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 ...

. He and his wife Kathryn Ferguson Fink, also a biochemist, collaborated to develop techniques in

nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting ...

used for

radiolabeling A radioactive tracer, radiotracer, or radioactive label is a chemical compound in which one or more atoms have been replaced by a radionuclide so by virtue of its radioactive decay it can be used to explore the mechanism of chemical reactions by tr ...

in the study of

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

cancer treatment.

Early life and education

Fink was born in Greenville, Illinois in 1915 as one of six children. He was an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

first at

Kansas State College Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and later at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, from which he graduated in 1937; he then did some graduate work at Lehigh University and received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

in 1942. During his graduate studies he met his fellow graduate student and future wife Kathryn Ferguson Fink. The couple married in 1941 and both did work with

Stafford Warren Stafford Leak Warren (July 19, 1896 - July 26, 1981) was an American physician and radiologist who was a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine and best known for his invention of the mammogram. Warren developed the technique of producing ster ...

supported by the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

after finishing their PhDs. In 1946 Fink was sent to Bikini Atoll for studies of

radiation safety Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Expos ...

related to ongoing

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

there.

Academic career

Fink briefly held a faculty appointment at the University of Rochester during his Manhattan Project-related work, in which he performed experiments related to

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...

of radioactive elements, particularly polonium, in at least one case on terminally ill human patients in order to obtain data used to develop related occupational safety standards. Although they did not meet modern standards of

informed consent Informed consent is a principle in medical ethics and medical law, that a patient must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about their medical care. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatme ...

, the report of these experiments has been noted as unusual in discussing the matter of consent with the subjects. When Stafford Warren moved to UCLA to become the dean of the newly established medical school there, the Finks joined him in 1947, with Robert taking a position in the UCLA biochemistry department and Kathryn working at the medical school, where she would eventually become the first PhD (rather than MD) holder to be appointed as a professor of medicine. The couple published extensively together about the use of

with paper chromatography techniques for the study of metabolic pathways. These tools were applied to the study of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

cancers. Fink retired from UCLA in 1978.

Personal life

Fink and his wife Kathryn had two daughters. Kathryn died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1989. Robert Fink died in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Robert Morgan American biochemists University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Rochester alumni 1915 births 2012 deaths