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ALUMNI NEWS
Morley Hollenberg (1964, Medicine) on his ground-breaking research
Over the past two years, Professor Morley
Hollenberg has been the recipient of
two prestigious awards in recognition of
ground-breaking medical research.
It is thanks to the Catz Development Office
and the persistence of Renzo Corrias (2011,
Economics) who put up with a longer than
expected transatlantic conversation during the
recent Telethon, that this note of appreciation
is being written. In the College’s 50 th year,
I am reminded that I made my way up the
staircase in College only two years after the
cement had dried.
Has it really been that long? As the
Chinese Proverb goes, my step at Catz was
unequivocally in the right direction; and that
research direction, begun with the guidance
of my tutors Derek Hope and Hugh Blaschko,
The 1968 St Catherine’s 1st Torpid on the College Barge
has its roots firmly in Oxford soil and on the
Isis.
I joined Catz as a Canadian Rhodes Scholar
from Manitoba. Why Catz? Two simple reasons:
(1) given its recent construction, the rooms
were guaranteed to have central heating; (2)
my DPhil supervisor, Derek Hope, was then a
member of College. That rationale bore fruit:
I was warm for the entire year, and my tutors
coached me to a successful DPhil thesis.
We had struck a deal. First, I had to acquire
the data that would justify a good thesis; then
I would be able to row for Catz. Within a year
or so, I crystallized the protein I was interested
in, learned the basis of peptide chemistry that
has underpinned my research until today, and
then: on to Torpids in March of 1968, and
we went up-river. That was my real goal at
Oxford, in keeping with my Winnipeg Rowing
Club experience. The DPhil was a by-product
of what rowing had taught me: hard work,
good work, teamwork, persistence and ‘going
all-out’.
My Oxford experience was a stepping stone
to the Department of Pharmacology &
Experimental Therapeutics, where I worked
on the mechanisms of action of insulin and
other growth factors. I then returned to
Canada in 1979 as Head of the Department of
Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University
of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine.
My research programme flourished, resulting
in insights about the way protein-degrading
enzymes (e.g.: digestive enzymes) can have
‘insulin-like’ effects to cause inflammatory
diseases such as colitis, arthritis, and asthma.
Over the past two years, that work has been
recognised by the Royal Society of Canada’s
McLaughlin Medal (‘for important research
of sustained excellence in any branch of
medical science’), and by the Canadian
Society for Clinical Investigation-Royal
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada’s
Henry Friesen Award (‘for novel and original
research of the highest calibre recognized
internationally; and for serving as a mentorship
role model’).
How do the honours accorded to my research
programme relate to Oxford and the Catz
experience? Simple: I was provided with
superb mentorship, outstanding training
and a supportive College environment to
thrive. In that regard, the camaraderie of the
Torpids First Eight looms large. There are few
experiences to match rowing for honing the
qualities of teamwork and excellence that are
essential for a successful research career. n
42/MORLEY HOLLENBERG