The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Visiting Neuroscientist at the University of Toronto Lecture Series was established
in 1999. This endowment was created in tribute to the Nobel Laureate, Julius Axelrod, Ph.D., for his pioneering and fundamental
contributions to the neurosciences.
Upcoming Distinguished Sackler Lectures
Previous Distinguished Sackler lectures
Julius Axelrod was born on May 30th, 1912, in New York City. He obtained his B.Sc. in 1933 at the College of the City of
New York, M.A. in 1941 at New York University, and Ph.D. in 1955 from the George Washington University.
“In October 1970, the Karolinska Institutet decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 1970 jointly to
Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod for their discoveries concerning "the humoral transmitters
in the nerve terminals and the mechanisms for their storage, release and inactivation".
The discoveries which the 1970 Nobel laureates have made have given us answers to questions of fundamental importance
for the understanding of the mechanism underlying the transmission between the nerve cells, i.e. at the so-called synapses,
and between the nerve terminals and the so-called effector organs, for instance between the motor nerve fibres and the
muscle fibres which they innervate. The transmission between the nerve cells, which radically differs from the mechanisms
underlying the impulse transmission in the nerve fibres, is mediated by chemical substances, so-called neurotransmitters,
which carry the message from one cell to the other. The three scientists have been working independently of each other,
but their discoveries all contribute in solving principal questions concerning the neurotransmitters, their storage, release and inactivation.
Dr. Julius Axelrod's discoveries concern the mechanisms which regulate the formation of this important transmitter in the
nerve cells and the mechanisms which are involved in the inactivation of noradrenaline, partly under the
influence of an enzyme discovered by himself.
von Euler's and Axelrod's discoveries have not only increased our knowledge about the transmission in the sympathetic nervous
system, they also form the basis for the understanding of the transmission in the central nervous system and its pharmacology. Thus
in a very significant way, the laureates have presented basic data about the physical and chemical mechanisms
of the synaptic transmission and thus given us basic information about how the messages are mediated between nerve
cells. Their discoveries concerning these regulatory mechanisms in the nervous system are fundamental in neurophysiology
and neuropharmacology and have greatly stimulated the search for remedies against nervous and mental disturbances.”
From the Press Release: The 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Dr. Axelrod passed away on December 29, 2004 at the age of 92. Click here for more on his distinguished career.
was founded in
1988 with the aims of general charitable purposes and in particular
the advancement of the education in the fields of art, science
and medical research.
