Carl Ferdinand Cori

Carl Ferdinand Cori met biochemist Gerty Theresa Cori (née Radnitz) during their college days. They married in 1920 and the couple had a son named Tom Cori. Gerty Cori suffered an illness of the bone marrow and died in 1957.

In 1960, Carl Ferdinand Cori married Anne Fitz- Gerald Jones.

He died due to health issues on 20 October 1984 At Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 87.

Carl Ferdinand Cori was born on 5 December 1896 at Prague. He was the son of zoologist Carl Isidor Cori who was the Director of the Marine Biological Station in Trieste and his wife Maria née Lippich.

As a child, he used to frequently visit his grandfather, Ferdinand Lippich, who was a Professor of Theoretical Physics in Prague. These visits gave him exposure to science from a very early age.

After completing his school education from the gymnasium in Trieste in 1914, he along with his family shifted to Prague. Here, he enrolled at the medical school of Charles University to pursue studies in Medicine.

During World War I, he was assigned duty as a lieutenant, in the sanitary corps of the Austrian Army along the Italian border. It was after he returned from service that he completed his studies and graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1920.

After completing his graduation he joined the University of Vienna and spent a year there followed by a year at the University of Graz as an assistant in pharmacology. At the University of Graz, he worked in collaboration with pharmacologist Otto Loewi to understand the influence of the vagus nerve on the heart.

In 1922, he accepted an offer to join the State Institute for the Study of Malignant Diseases, New York, as biochemist. Alongside working at the Institute, Carl Ferdinand Cori along with his wife, Gerty Cori, used to conduct research on topics of mutual interest i.e. preclinical sciences. This was a practice that began from their college days.

The duo focused on understanding carbohydrate metabolism detailing the biochemical processes involved in the production, disintegration and inter-conversion of carbohydrates in living organisms. This study led to the discovery of the Cori Cycle also known as the Lactic Acid Cycle in 1929.

In 1931, he joined the Washington University School of Medicine at Missouri as Professor of Pharmacology. He was later given the role of Professor of Biochemistry. While teaching at the Washington University Medical School, the husband wife duo continued their research on glycogen and explained glycogenolysis along with determining and synthesizing the enzyme glycogen phosphorylase.

In 1966, he retired from the Washington University as chair of the Department of Biochemistry. Later, he joined as visiting professor for Biochemistry at Harvard University. Simultaneously, he continued research in genetics at a reserved laboratory within the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Carl Ferdinand Cori was a renowned biochemist who is best known for his study of carbohydrate metabolism and description of the Cori Cycle in collaboration with his wife Gerty Cori, who was also a biochemist. He also studied glycogenolysis as part of his research work.