Rudolph Schoenheimer

Rudolf Schönheimer ( born May 10, 1898 in Berlin, † September 11, 1941 in New York City ) was a German, then American biochemist who developed the technique of labeling of molecules with stable isotopes, the groundbreaking for the study of metabolic processes had.

Life

After studying medicine at Berlin Friedrich- Wilhelms University, he taught biochemistry at the Universities of Leipzig and Freiburg. In 1933 he emigrated with his wife Salome Gluecksohn - Schoenheimer in the U.S. and worked at Columbia University in the field of radiochemistry at Harold C. Urey. There he developed with researchers like David Rittenberg (1906-1970) and Konrad Bloch to mark its stable isotopes to track dietary constituents on their way through the body.

Schönheimer discovered that cholesterol is a risk factor for atherosclerosis. In his honor, gives the German Society for Atherosclerosis Research ( DGAF ) Rudolf- Schönheimer Medal.

Schönheimer died at the age of 43 by suicide.