Heroes in Medical Research: Dr. Carmine Paul Bianchi Pharmacologist, Leader, and Mentor

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Heroes in Medical Research: Dr. Carmine Paul Bianchi Pharmacologist, Leader, and Mentor

October 29, 2013 by sjwilliamspa

Heroes in Medical Research: Dr. Carmine Paul Bianchi Pharmacologist, Leader, and Mentor

Writer/Curator: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

Past articles in this Heroes in Medical Research series had focused on those seemingly small discoveries, sometimes gained serendipitously and through careful observation and experimentation, which led to some of our most important breakthroughs of our time. I have tried to make the posts more about the people and less about the discoveries

However, though seminal discoveries are so important to the future of science (and should be celebrated), equally if not MORE IMPORTANT is the MENTORING of future scientists and the PROMOTION of fields of study. One person who exemplified these values was Dr. Carmine Paul Bianchi, who had recently just passed away this August, and will be sorely missed in the field of pharmacology and toxicology.

For those who were not familiar with Dr. Bianchi I have curated some pertinent information about his work as a scientist, professor and Chairman in pharmacology, and leader and spokesperson for the field of pharmacology. He was one of the founders of the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society and was an advocate and influential in the careers of many pharmacologists and toxicologists.

Comments from fellow colleagues are very welcome (in comment section at end of post)

The following is separated in 3 sections:

An obituary from the Philadelphia Inquirer
A section of the history of the Pharmacology Department at Thomas Jefferson University where Dr. Bianchi was Chairman
A few important textbooks and scientific articles he had authored

Carmine Paul Bianchi, 86, pharmacology professor

Carmine Paul Bianchi

By Bonnie L. Cook, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: August 20, 2013

Carmine Paul Bianchi, 86, of Boothwyn, a professor of pharmacology in Philadelphia for many years, died Tuesday, Aug. 13, of a digestive ailment at Taylor Hospice House in Ridley Park.

Born in Newark, N.J., and raised in Maplewood, Dr. Bianchi served as an Army surgical technician in Tilton General Hospital at Fort Dix from 1945 to 1947.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Columbia University in 1950, a master’s in physiology and biochemistry from Rutgers University in 1953, and a doctorate in physiology and physical chemistry in 1956 from Rutgers.

In the 1950s, he did research at Rutgers and was a public health fellow and visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

From 1961 to 1976, he held a number of jobs in the department of pharmacology in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. That culminated in his being named professor of pharmacology.

Dr. Bianchi left in 1976 for Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, where he became pharmacology professor and chairman of the pharmacology department from 1976 to 1987. In 1987, he stepped down from the chairmanship but remained professor of pharmacology. He retired in 1997 as professor emeritus.

Dr. Bianchi was a member of many professional groups, including the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He was a leader and author in pharmacology, helping edit an industry journal and making himself available for consultation to medical examiners and experts in toxicology.

He wrote or contributed to three books and 200 scientific papers and lectured widely. He enjoyed mentoring medical and graduate students.

His family called Dr. Bianchi “a true renaissance man” who was as comfortable discussing English, history, and politics as he was the sciences.

The following was taken from a history of Department of Pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University and can be viewed at: http://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=wagner2

Carmine Paul Bianchi, Ph.D;

Third Chairman (1976-1986)

The new Chairman of the Department, effective

July 1, 1976, was Carmine Paul Bianchi, Ph.D.

(Figure 8-3) from the University of Pennsylvania

School of Medicine, where he had been Professor

of Pharmacology since [969 and a member of the

faculty of that Department since 1961.

Dr. Bianchi was born on April 9, [927, in

Newark, New Jersey. After receiving his diploma

at Columbia High School in 1945, he spent two

years in the Army Medical Corps as Technical Sgt.

Fourth Grade. He then attended Columbia

University, where he majored in chemistry and

obtained the B.A. degree in 1950. Like Dr.

Gruber, the first Chairman of the Pharmacology

Department at Jefferson, Bianchi earned his Ph.D.

in physiology. He pursued his graduate studies at

Rutgers University, supplementing his physiology

major with a biochemistry minor for the M.S.

degree in [953 and with a physical chemistry minor

for the Ph.D. degree in 1956. Dr. Bianchi then

spent several years at the National Institutes of

Health-two years as a Public Health Fellow and

one as a Visiting Scientist. Following that he was

Assistant Member of the Institute for Muscle

Disease in New York for one year. In 1961 Dr.

Bianchi became classified professionally as a

pharmacologist by becoming an Associate in the

Department of Pharmacology at the University of

Pennsylvania School of Medicine. There he

advanced to Professorship in 1969 and remained

until he came to Jefferson. The evolution of Dr.

Bianchi’s career from physiology to pharmacology

was the logical result of his investigations of the

effect of various drugs on the metabolism and

distribution of some of the important elements of

the body, notably calcium. His major field of

interest became classified and remained in

electrolyte pharmacology.

Throughout his career Dr. Bianchi has been

very active in the affairs of outside professional

organizations. He is a member of the American

Society for Pharmacology and Experimental

Therapeutics, the American Physiological Society,

the American Chemical Society, and the

International Society of Toxicology, to name

only a few. He served as President of both the

Philadelphia Physiological Society and the John

Morgan Society in the same year (1973-1974), and

of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society for

Neuroscience (1979-1980). He gave much time

and valuable services as Field Editor for the

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental

Therapeutics ([970-1979) and as a member of the

Pharmacology Section of the National Board of

Medical Examiners (1981-1985).

After Dr. Bianchi became Chairman no

immediate changes in the general structure and

activities of the Department took place. He

enlarged the Department and filled vacancies

occasioned by the retirement of some faculty

members. The didactic schedules and subject

matter offered to the medical and graduate

students underwent only minor annual changes.

Research activities were augmented by the

addition of Dr. Bianchi’s specialty in electrolyte

pharmacology and the appointments of new staff

members for investigations in that and related

flelds. Through the following decade there was a

marked change in the faculty structure of the

Department. The [975 Jefferson catalogue, for

example, listed 15 faculty appointments in

Pharmacology, of which eight were on a primary

full-time basis with offices and laboratories in the

Department. In 1985 there were 36 faculty

appointments of which eight were on a primary

full-time basis. The large increase in the total

number of faculty resulted from adjunct

appointments from outside organizations and from

secondary appointments of faculty members of the

Clinical Departments at Jefferson. This expansion

reflected a broadening of interests and interactions

on both the scientific and clinical fronts in clinical

pharmacology and clinical toxicology.

A notable addition to the faculty of the

Department in 1978 was Dr. Hyman Menduke

as Professor of Pharmacology

(Biostatistics). After receiving his Ph.D. in

Economic Statistics at the University of

Pennsylvania, Menduke came to Jefferson in 1953

as Assistant Professor of Biostatistics with no

official Departmental affiliation until 1963, when

he was appointed Professor of Preventive

Medicine (Biostatistics). When Dr. Menduke first

came to Jefferson he gave a ten-hour course in

biostatistics to the second-year medical students in

time provided during their pharmacology course.

Through the years his offerings expanded to a

12-hour course for freshman medical students and

introductory and advanced courses for graduate

students. An early and valuable contribution was a

series of individual conferences with graduate

students on the statistical planning of their

research problems and the later analysis of their

data.

The interests and activities of the Department in

research in toxicology have been emphasized.

Toxicology continued as an important part of the

research program after Dr. Bianchi became

Chairman in 1976, although under his direction

the major emphasis in research became redirected

toward the general areas of cell pharmacology and

neuropharmacology.

In accord with its continuing research and

teaching activities in toxicology, the Department

starting in 1977 organized a series of annual

workshops on Industrial Toxicology sponsored by

the College of Graduate Studies. These were

four-day symposia on important toxicologic

problems in industry and the general environment,

presented by toxicologically involved Jefferson

faculty and by invited experts from other

universities, industry, and government.

In 1979 the Department was awarded a training

grant in Industrial and Environmental Toxicology

by the National Institute of Environmental Health

Sciences. The purpose of this award was to

provide postdoctoral training in toxicology for

individuals who had previously received their

Ph.D. degrees in other sciences. Ten M.S. degrees

were subsequently awarded in this program

through the years from 1981 to 1986.

On December 14, 1978, a full day’s workshop

with outside invited experts was held to discuss

the formation of a Toxicology Center and the

establishment of a Chair in Toxicology-Pathology

to broaden the base of research and training in

toxicology at Jefferson. It was envisioned that the

Center would be an administrative Division within

the Department of Pharmacology, with research

participation from other basic science departments

and the Department of Medicine. Although funds

accumulated in support of a Toxicology Center,

disagreements developed relating to the

administrative base of the Center.

A few articles from Dr. Bianchi showing the diversity of his research interests including calcium mobilization, neurotoxicology, and cellular metabolism and physiology.

Muscle fatigue and the role of transverse tubules.

Bianchi CP, Narayan S.

Science. 1982 Jan 15;215(4530):295-6. No abstract available.

Effect of adenosine on oxygen uptake and electrolyte content of frog sartorius muscle.

Prosdocimi M, Bianchi CP.

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1981 Jul;218(1):92-6.

The effect of diazepam on tension and electrolyte distribution in frog muscle.

Degroof RC, Bianchi CP, Narayan S.

Eur J Pharmacol. 1980 Aug 29;66(2-3):193-9.

Steady state maintenance of electrolytes in the spinal cord of the frog.

Bianchi CP, Erulkar SD.

J Neurochem. 1979 Jun;32(6):1671-7. No abstract available.

An in-vitro model of anesthetic hypertonic hyperpyrexia, halothane–caffeine-induced muscle contractures: prevention of contracture by procainamide.

Strobel GE, Bianchi CP.

Anesthesiology. 1971 Nov;35(5):465-73. No abstract available.

The effects of psychoactive agents on calcium uptake by preparations of rat brain mitochondria.

Tjioe S, Haugaard N, Bianchi CP.

J Neurochem. 1971 Nov;18(11):2171-8. No abstract available.

The effect of veratridine on sodium-sensitive radiocalcium uptake in frog sartorius muscle.

Johnson P, Bianchi CP.

Eur J Pharmacol. 1971 Sep;16(1):90-9. No abstract available.

The function of ATP in Ca2+ uptake by rat brain mitochondria.

Tjioe S, Bianchi CP, Haugaard N.

Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Sep 1;216(2):270-3. No abstract availabl

The effects of pH gradients on the uptake and distribution of C14-procaine and lidocaine in intact and desheathed sciatic nerve trunks.

Strobel GE, Bianchi CP.

J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1970 Mar;172(1):18-32. No abstract available

More articles by CP Bianchi can be found at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Bianchi%20CP[auth]

The following is one of the seminal books Dr. Bianchi authored:

Role of Calcium Channels of the Sarcolemma and the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum in Skeletal Muscle Functions

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2F978-1-4615-3362-7_17/lookinside/000.png

AND

Advances in General and Cellular Pharmacology (1976)

Toshio Narahashi; Carmine Paul Bianchi

The author of the Advances in General and Cellular Pharmacology is Toshio Narahashi; Carmine Paul Bianchi – very good writer. You can download this e-book absolutely for free. This ebook’s ISBN number is 9781461582007. if you were searching for for free download of kindle books, google books, free pdf books, pdf ebooks, e-books, pdf files or pdf ebooks just stay here for a while, download what you wanted for free and enjoy!