John R. Riordan

John Richard Riordan OC ( born September 2, 1943 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick ) is a Canadian biochemist who works with cystic fibrosis ( cystic fibrosis).

Riordan earned his bachelor's degree in 1966 from the University of Toronto, where he was in 1970 a doctorate in biochemistry. 1970 to 1973 he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main. From 1974 he was a professor at the University of Toronto. He is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a visiting scientist at the Salhgrenska Academy (whose honorary doctorate he is) and University of Gothenburg.

Riordan discovered with colleagues in 1989, the gene of the protein CFTR ( Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator), which is defective in cystic fibrosis. He explored in the following years its function as a chloride channel and its role in the regulation of other ion channels.

In 1992 he received the Gairdner Foundation International Award.