The Proctor Medal was first awarded to Dr. Jonas
Friedenwald in 1949. After Friedenwald, 53 stellar scientists received
the Proctor Medal in the past century. I cannot think of a more
appropriate way to begin the next century of Proctor Medalists than
with the two individuals being honored today, Professors Laszlo Z. Bito
and Johan Stjernschantz. It truly is a privilege and a great honor for
me to introduce these impeccable scientists to you.
I suspect that almost everyone in this room either personally knows or,
at the very least, knows of Laszlo. Over the past 35 years, his
presence at the ARVO meetings in the physiology, pharmacology, and/or
glaucoma fields were characterized by his frequent, uninhibited, and
candid critiques of paper presentations. Laszlo’s rather flamboyant
personality has become legendary. On the other hand, I suspect that a
much smaller percentage of you know Johan. This soft-spoken researcher
rarely makes his presence known at meetings. Nevertheless, the union of
these contrasting individuals has resulted in profound contributions to
basic scientific and clinical ophthalmology.
Laszlo was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1934, and Johan in Vasa,
Finland, in 1947. Whereas Johan remained in Scandinavia for all but a
few years of his life, Laszlo fled from Hungary during the revolution,
and entered the US at the age of 22. Laszlo received his BA degree from
Bard College in New York, and his PhD in Biophysics and Medical Cell
Biology at Columbia University. He spent the next 2 years with
Professor Hugh Davson, first at the University of Louisville, where
Professor Davson was taking a sabbatical, and then in the Department of
Physiology at the University College in London. Laszlo then returned to
Columbia, where he joined the research faculty in the Department of
Ophthalmology, with Professor George Smelser, the 13th Proctor
Medalist.
Johan completed medical school at the University of Helsinki but
practiced clinical medicine for only 1 year. While in medical school,
his interest in basic research began in Professor Arto Palkama’s
laboratory. After medical school, he received his doctoral thesis at
the University of Helsinki, which included studies with Professor
Anders Bill at Uppsala University in Sweden. Johan spent his
postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Bill for 1 year and with Dr. Marvin
Sears at Yale University for another 2 years. Johan remained at Yale
for an additional year as an Assistant Professor, then returned to
Finland. There, he assumed the position of medical director of the Star
Pharmaceutical Company for 3 years, before joining Pharmacia
Ophthalmics in Uppsala as the Director of Product Development in 1986.
Laszlo and Johan, working independently, had many common or
complementary interests, including examining the ocular effects of the
cholinergic nervous system and cholinergic drugs; investigating models
and mediators of intraocular inflammation, including prostaglandins
(PGs), leukotrienes, and neuropeptides; and evaluating the effect of
neuropeptides and eicosanoids on ocular blood flow and fluid dynamics.
Their mutual research interests resulted in a perfect blend when Laszlo
met with Johan within three days after Johan had assumed his position
at Pharmacia.
For several years before their collaboration, Laszlo had tried to
pursue the PG project with virtually every pharmaceutical company that
manufactured ophthalmic drugs, including Pharmacia. Despite Laszlo’s
persistence, little progress could be made until Johan joined
Pharmacia. As you will hear from Laszlo and Johan, tremendous obstacles
had to be overcome, including the preconceived notions by our peers of
the potentially harmful effects of PGs. Dr. Anders Bill, a previous
recipient of the Friedenwald Memorial Award, and Johan’s mentor,
estimated that the PG project had a 5% chance of becoming successful.
Laszlo and Johan were able to overcome these seemingly insurmountable
odds.
As many of you may know, Hungarians and Finns supposedly have parallel
origins, perhaps in Siberia many millennia ago. Many similarities in
their languages suggest a prior relationship. However, as alluded to
earlier, Laszlo and Johan have quite contrasting personalities. Laszlo
is a gregarious and fun-loving free-spirit, whereas Johan is private,
reserved, and even-tempered, but with an unexpectedly delightful, wry
sense of humor. Johan describes Laszlo as an imaginative, enthusiastic
creator, and himself as a skeptical, pessimistic, down-to-earth,
narrow-minded “laboratory rat.” Whereas I’ll have to agree with
Johan’s assessment of Laszlo, I know that Johan’s description of
himself is colored by his profound humility and modesty, two
characteristics foreign to Laszlo. In fact, an aphorism posted on the
wall of Laszlo’s office describes some basic facts about Laszlo: (1)
Laszlo is always right; (2) if you ever find him to be wrong, please
see fact number 1.
Despite these “small” differences, these two outstanding scientists
share many common traits, including incomparable energy, perseverance,
tenacity, determination, resourcefulness, enthusiasm, ingenuity, and
honesty. They are perceptive, creative, innovative, and free-thinking.
Their studies are exquisitely designed and controlled, and are carried
out with compulsiveness and perfection. Both have unending intellectual
curiosity and devotion to their scientific work. They are superb
teachers who can uniquely motivate their talented students and
scientific colleagues.
Four years ago, Johan left industry to join the faculty at Uppsala
University, first as an adjunct Professor of Experimental
Ophthalmology, and later as a Professor of Pharmacology and Drug
Development. He remains very active and productive in the field of PG
research as it relates to the eye. On the other hand, Laszlo has“
retired” from ophthalmic research, returned to Budapest as his
primary residence, and has devoted his inexhaustible energy to writing
fictional novels. Some of these novels have become best-sellers in
Hungary, and one has been made into a play performed in Budapest.
The Proctor Medal was established to honor great individuals who set
unique standards as scientists, scholars, and teachers in eye research.
The two great men who are being honored today have provided us with
scientific contributions that truly have revolutionized the medical
management of our glaucoma patients, who are the primary beneficiaries
of the many years of hard work and devotion of our Proctor Medalists. I
feel privileged and honored to have had Laszlo and Johan as my
teachers, mentors, colleagues, and friends and to have the opportunity
of introducing them to you on this momentous occasion.