Ervin G. Erdös, MD, (October 16, 1922-November 17, 2019).
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ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme), CPN (carboxypeptidases N) and CPM (carboxypeptidases M), prolylcarboxypeptidase, neprilysin, and cathepsin A are peptidases that metabolize biologically active peptides. Many of these peptides contribute to hypertension and the associated renal, cardiac and vascular pathology. Ervin G. Erdös, MD spent 60 years of research on the discovery, activity, and function of these enzymes. His research contributed to our fundamental understanding of the activation and degradation of angiotensins, kinins, oxytocin, and substance P and provided a foundation for the development of inhibitors of these enzymes that are widely used to treat cardiovascular diseases. He died at the age of 97. Born in Budapest, Hungary, his pathway to a career in research and medicine was unconventional with starts, stops and detours due to World War II, time in a concentration camp, escape from communist Hungary, research training in Germany and emigration to the United States. This history has been detailed in an article published elsewhere and reads more like a John le Carre story than a scientist’s vita. His medical training began in Budapest but was completed in Munich. It was the rich research environment and support of young scientists in Munich that cemented his choice of a career in science and his research focus. Working in the laboratories of the kallikrein-kinin pioneers, Professors Eugen Werle and Emil Frey, he began his study of peptides and peptidases. His focus never deviated from these topics. He subsequently moved to the University of Pittsburgh and the Mellon Institute before taking other academic positions at the University of Oklahoma, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. He was a Professor of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology and Director of the Laboratory of Peptide Research at the University of Illinois. His first publication was in Nature and last scientific article in Hypertension with hundreds of intervening publications in other prestigious journals. For his many contributions to research, he presented the American Heart Association Lewis K. Dahl Memorial Lecture and William Harvey Lecture of the William Harvey Institute of London and he received the gold medal of the E.K. FreyE. Werle Foundation of the University of Munich, the American Heart Association Ciba Award in Hypertension (precursor of the Excellence in Hypertension Award), the American Heart Association Research Achievement Award and the University of Illinois Pioneer in Medicine Award. He was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Heart Association Council on Hypertension. He was a mentor to many students, fellows, and junior faculty members. In his view, there are 2 kinds of scientists, those who discover and those who measure. Ervin’s focus on discovery led to a more freewheeling and intuitive approach to research, many times suggesting ideas that seemed far out, but very often were proven correct. He trained researchers to discover. Never autocratic, his leadership and mentorship styles were cooperative and carried out in a kind and collegial manner. His curiosity and enthusiasm for discovery was boundless and sustained throughout his life and was shared with colleagues and mentees. He seized every opportunity to support and promote the careers of fellows, junior faculty, and colleagues. Readers are directed to an excellent account of the positive impact Ervin had on the life and career of a foreign scientist. He was a voracious reader of published research and had an encyclopedic memory. Additionally, he could converse on a broad range of topics, including science, art, history Ervin G. Erdös, MD, (October 16, 1922–November 17, 2019)
[1] R. Igić. An exploration of bioactive peptides: My collaboration with Ervin G. Erdös , 2018, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
[2] E. G. Erdös. Peptides and the enzymes that release or inactivate them: A short history of my life and work entwined , 2004 .