Robert Lefkowitz

Robert Lefkowitz is an American physician and biochemist whose research established how G protein-coupled receptors are identified, regulated, and activated. He shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Brian Kobilka.

G protein-coupled receptor: A large family of cell-surface proteins that relay signals from outside the cell through G proteins. Lefkowitz’s career-defining work revealed how this receptor family functions.
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons: The medical school of Columbia University in New York City. Lefkowitz earned his medical degree there before pursuing receptor research.
Brian Kobilka: An American physician and molecular biologist who shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on G protein-coupled receptors. Kobilka’s structural studies complemented Lefkowitz’s work on receptor function.
Beta blocker: A drug that blocks beta-adrenergic receptors, reducing effects such as increased heart rate and cardiac workload. These medicines act on the receptor family that anchored Lefkowitz’s early research.
2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka for studies of G protein-coupled receptors. The prize recognized the receptor discoveries at the center of Lefkowitz’s scientific career.
Receptor binding assay: An experimental method that measures how molecules bind to receptors, often using labeled ligands. Lefkowitz used binding assays to identify and characterize receptors for hormones.
National Institutes of Health: The United States government’s principal agency for biomedical and public health research. Lefkowitz began his research career there as a clinical associate.
Earl Sutherland: An American pharmacologist who discovered cyclic AMP’s role in hormone signaling and received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Sutherland’s work established the second-messenger framework behind Lefkowitz’s receptor studies.
Adrenergic receptor: A receptor activated by adrenaline or noradrenaline, including alpha and beta subtypes. Lefkowitz’s receptor methods helped define this therapeutically important family.
Seven-transmembrane receptor: A membrane protein whose chain crosses the cell membrane seven times; many such proteins are G protein-coupled receptors. Lefkowitz’s work helped establish this receptor architecture as a major signaling design.

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