September 30, 2021
Clarenburg Lecture to feature molecular physiologist at College of Veterinary Medicine
As part of its annual Clarenburg Lecture series, the College of Veterinary Medicine will host Walter Boron on Tuesday, Oct. 5. Boron's lecture topic is "Molecular physiology of the NBCs: pathways for carbonate and carbon dioxide." The lecture will be presented in the Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Auditorium at 4 p.m.
The Rudolf Clarenburg Lectureship was established in 1996 to honor Rudolf Clarenburg, professor of physiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. This lecture series brings nationally acclaimed scientists to Kansas State University to discuss their research interests with students and faculty throughout the university.
Boron is a distinguished university professor, Myers/Scarpa professor and chair of the physiology and biophysics department at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in chemistry at Saint Louis University, and his medical degree and doctorate in physiology and biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Boron joined Yale University as a postdoctoral fellow with Emile Boulpaep in 1978 and remained there for the next 29 years, serving three terms as chair of the cellular and molecular physiology department. In 2007, he returned to his hometown of Cleveland. Boron developed his lifelong interest in acid-base transport and intracellular-pH regulation with his doctoral mentors Albert Roos and Paul De Weer, and his interest in renal HCO3− transport with Boulpaep. His group currently focuses on three related areas: the molecular physiology of the Na+-coupled HCO3− transporters, molecular CO2/HCO3− sensors, as well as CO2 and O2 channels.
Boron is former president of the American Physiological Society and former secretary-general of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, as well as former editor-in-chief of two journals, Physiological Reviews and Physiology. He and Boulpaep co-edited the textbooks "Medical Physiology" and "Concise Medical Physiology." Among Boron's accolades are an honorary doctorate from Aarhus University in 2014 and election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014.
The Clarenburg Lecture series is made possible by the generous support received from the Clarenburg family to honor and recognize the significant contributions made by Clarenburg to the anatomy and physiology department and the College of Veterinary Medicine.