Joachim Heinrich Seelig (29 March 1942 – 15 August 2024) was a German physical chemist and specialist in NMR Spectroscopy. He was one of the founding fathers of the Biozentrum of the University of Basel.[1] He reached emeritus status in 2012.[2]
Joachim Seelig | |
|---|---|
 Seelig in 2012 | |
| Born | 29 March 1942 |
| Died | 15 August 2024 (aged 82) Basel, Switzerland |
| Nationality | German |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical chemist |
| Institutions | University of Cologne, Biozentrum University of Basel |
Background
editJoachim Seelig was born in Cologne on 29 March 1942.[3] He studied chemistry and physics from 1961 till 1966 at the University of Cologne. In 1968 he graduated with a doctorate under the guidance of Manfred Eigen at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen. As a postdoc he conducted research on electron spin resonance at Stanford University in 1968/69. In 1970 he moved as a postdoc to the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Basel where he became a group leader and assistant professor in 1972. He became full professor in 1974 and in 1982 Professor of Structural Biology at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel.[4]
Seelig died in Basel, Switzerland on 15 August 2024, at the age of 82.[5]
Work
editJoachim Seelig developed biophysical methods for studying the structure and thermodynamic properties of biological cell membranes.[6] He investigated the interactions of proteins and lipids by EPR-spectroscopy, deuterium and phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron diffraction and calorimetric methods.[7] The quantitative characterization of the biological membrane became the international standard for further theoretical studies. His second field of research was magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the humans and animals.[8] With C-13 NMR the metabolism in the human and animal brain could be traced in a non-invasive manner. With faster MRI imaging techniques the tonotopy of the human brain has been described.
Awards and honors
edit- 1987 Cloëtta Prize, Prof. Cloëtta Foundation, Zurich[9]
- 1991 Bijvoet Medal of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, NL[10]
- 1994 Heinrich Wieland Prize, Munich[11]
- 2000 Applied Physical Chemistry Award 2000, European Society for applied Physical Chemistry [12]
- 2003 Foreign membership of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences[13]
- 2005 Avanti Award in Lipids, Biophysical Society (USA)[14]
References
edit- ^ "Die Entstehung und Funktion des Biozentrums" (PDF). unigeschichte.unibas.ch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "Prof. Dr. Joachim Seelig, Emeritus". biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae Joachim Seelig". ae-info.org. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ "Official website". Biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Obituary for Prof. em. Joachim Seelig". biozentrum.unibas.ch. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
- ^ "Lipid conformation in model membranes and biological membranes" (PDF). rero.ch. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ Seelig, Joachim; Tamm, Lukas; Hymel, Lin; Fleischer, Sidney (1981). "Deuterium and phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence depolarization studies of functional reconstituted sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane vesicles". Biochemistry. 20 (13). acs.org: 3922–3932. doi:10.1021/bi00516a040. PMID 7272285. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ Seelig, Joachim (1986). "NMR imaging and spectroscopy in vivo". Fresenius' Zeitschrift für Analytische Chemie. 324 (8). springer.com: 767–770. doi:10.1007/BF00473170. S2CID 101538266. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ Cloëtta-Prize Archived 24 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine cloetta-stiftung.ch. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Bijvoet Medal". Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ Heinrich Wieland Laureates Archived 12 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine heinrich-wieland-preis.de Retrieved 19 November 2013
- ^ Award "Applied Physical Chemistry" 2000 eurostar-science.org. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "J.H. Seelig". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ^ Avanti Award in Lipids Winner Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine biophysics.org. Retrieved 18 November 2013.