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RESEARCH PROFESSOR TO DISCUSS HOW BLOOD CLOTS MAY 18 AT UCSD

Russell F. Doolittle, UCSD research professor and expert on the study of blood, will discuss The Biology of Blood Clots at 4 p.m. May 18 in Garren Auditorium of the Basic Science Building at the University of California, San Diego.

Doolittle’s lecture is the second in a series of Faculty Research Lectures sponsored by the San Diego Division of the Academic Senate of the University of California. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception at University House.

Doolittle, a research professor in both the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Biology, is responsible "almost single-handedly," according to a UCSD chemistry colleague, for providing "the molecular explanation of how fibrin monomer polymerizes to form fibrin. This is the transformation ultimately responsible for the clotting of blood."

Praised as one who has dominated the field of blood clotting, Doolittle says, "Human blood coagulation is a complex process involving numerous protein factors that circulate in the blood. The complexity is needed to maintain the delicate balance between fluidity under normal circumstances, and the gelification that occurs when the vascular system is damaged."

Doolittle will outline the reactions that take place when a blood clot forms. He will also attempt to show how the complex process arose from simpler systems during the course of animal evolution.

The scientist/professor has been on the UCSD faculty since 1964. His honors include membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Paul Ehrlich Prize bestowed by the German Government, and the Stein and Moore award, the highest recognition bestowed by the Protein Society. He also has been recognized for his outstanding teaching including the Outstanding Educator of America Award, Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Virginia and UCSD Distinguished Lecturer.

Doolittle received his doctorate in biochemistry from Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles in the areas of protein chemistry and biochemical evolution.