From clinical medicine to pharmacology
After a medical doctorate at Strasbourg and a period in clinical practice, Loewi turned to basic medical research. He investigated metabolism, kidney function and pharmacology in Marburg and Vienna, becoming Professor of Pharmacology at Graz in 1909.
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Chemical transmission
In 1921 Loewi showed that fluid surrounding a frog heart after vagal stimulation could affect another heart, supporting transmission through a chemical substance. He called it Vagusstoff; subsequent research connected it with acetylcholine. His work and Dale’s pharmacological investigations advanced the understanding of chemical nerve transmission.
Forced departure from Austria
Following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938, Loewi was forced to leave and surrender his Nobel Prize money. He worked in Brussels and Oxford before joining New York University in 1940. He died in the United States in 1961.