Professor Michael Field

Michael Field obtained his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1953 and an MD from Boston University in 1959. After completing his training in internal medicine and gastroenterology, he assumed several positions at universities and medical centers in the United States. He joined the Biophysical Laboratory at Harvard Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow looking into intracellular mechanisms in 1964. He had been Professor of the department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences at the University of Chicago since 1977. 

Professor Field took the concepts of basic sciences to the bedside of those afflicted with diarrhea and developed effective measures to prevent consequent debility and death. He also contributed significantly to studies elucidating the chemical mechanisms by which cholera and other pathogenic bacteria toxins cause diarrhea by stimulating the intestine to secrete excessive amounts of salt instead of absorbing it. Working in collaboration with Professor William Greenough III of Johns Hopkins University, they were able to show that cholera toxins increased adenylate cyclase activity and the secretion of adenosine monophosphate, leading to increased loss of fluids and ions through the intestinal mucous membrane. They also discovered two of the toxins produced by Escherichia coli and conducted studies on the hormonal relations associated with intestinal functions. This work stimulated rigorous research worldwide on the secretory mechanisms of the intestine and the pathogenesis of diarrhea and led to the development of new drugs for treating bacterial diarrheas and reducing their complications.

Professor Michael Field received several awards, including the Distinguished Achievement Award and the Distinguished Mentor Award of the AGA in 1984. He was the editor of Diarrheal Diseases; Current Topics in Gastroenterology (New York Elsevier) and a member of the American Physiological Society, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.