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Philip Seeman, molecular neuropharmacologist, educator (born 8 February 1934 in Winnipeg, MB; died 9 January 2021).
Education
Educated at McGill University and Rockefeller University, Philip Seeman has studied the structure and function of the plasma membrane at the surface of animal cells. His special interest is in neurologically active compounds, their interaction with receptors on the periphery of nerve cells, and their effect on human behaviour and mood.
Career
Philip Seeman's major scientific discoveries concern the nerve cell receptor for the neurohormone L-dopamine, whose aberrant function is manifest in one or more forms of Parkinsonism. The studies of Seeman and coworkers of the interaction of L-dopamine, its analogues and its antagonists with nerve cell membranes have brought a rational basis to the understanding and treatment of Parkinson's disease and other illnesses that derive from faulty neurohormone function.
Seeman was head of the deptartment of pharmacology, University of Toronto, 1977-87. His publications include the text Principles of Medical Pharmacology (1976).
Honours and Awards
Philip Seeman was awarded the 1994 Prix Galien for his on the operations of dopamine receptors.
Personal Life
In 1959, Philip Seeman married Mary Seeman.
