Clark Distelhorst MD

Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, Director, Harrington Discovery Institute, is an internationally renowned physician-scientist, recognized for the discovery of protein S-nitrosylation, a ubiquitous mechanism for controlling protein function that operates across phylogeny and in all cell types and tissues, and that is commonly dysregulated in disease. His work on S-nitrosylation is notable for providing new insights into mammalian physiology, including the regulation of cardiac contractility and the discovery of red blood cell-mediated vasodilation, which is essential for oxygen delivery to all tissues. Dr. Stamler’s laboratory is also known for groundbreaking work on hemoglobins in mammals, microbes and worms, in the process discovering the vasoregulatory role of a third gas (nitric oxide) in the mammalian respiratory cycle (thereby redefined as a 3-gas system: NO/O2/CO2) as well as new enzymatic functions of hemoglobins that protect against nitric oxide in lower organisms. Dr. Stamler also identified the molecular mechanism of nitroglycerin bioactivation and tolerance.