Carl W. Gottschalk
Encyclopedia
Carl William Gottschalk was the Kenan Professor and Distinguished Research Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

. Gottschalk made important discoveries about the function of the kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...

s, and helped set government policies that provided dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...

 to patients with kidney failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...

.

Biography

Born in Salem
Salem, Virginia
Salem is an independent city in Virginia, USA, bordered by the city of Roanoke to the east but otherwise adjacent to Roanoke County. It is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 24,802 according to 2010 U.S. Census...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 in 1922, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Roanoke College
Roanoke College
Roanoke College is an private, coeducational, four-year liberal-arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The college is located in Salem, Virginia, a suburban independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia...

 in 1942, and attended a wartime medical school program at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. In 1945, Gottschalk was for six years a research fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 and an intern at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...

. He then joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 as cardiology
Cardiology
Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology...

 fellow and instructor in the School of Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

; he remained at UNC until his retirement in 1992. He died on October 15, 1997.

Research and publications

Throughout his career, Gottschalk published extensively about the kidney and about the history of kidney research. He is particularly known for his work using micropuncture techniques to study the kidney's ability to concentrate urine, and for the theory of countercurrent multiplication
Countercurrent multiplication
A countercurrent multiplier system is a mechanism that expends energy to create a concentration gradient.It is found widely in nature and especially in mamalian organs...

 explaining this ability.

Health policy

In 1967, Gottschalk chaired a U.S. government committee that recommended government support for kidney transplants and artificial kidney machines for patients with kidney failure. His efforts led to Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...

 funding of dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...

 for these patients, now provided to hundreds of thousands of patients. He also chaired another committee in 1987 concerned with medical ethics.

Awards and honors

Gottschalk was named Kenan Professor of Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 and Physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...

 by UNC in 1969. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 in 1970 and the National Academy of Science in 1975, and was from 1976 to 1977 the president of the American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Nephrology
Founded in 1966, the American Society of Nephrology is the world’s largest professional society devoted to the study of kidney disease. Composed of 11,000 physicians and scientists, ASN promotes expert patient care, advances medical research, and educates the renal community...

. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Roanoke College in 1966, the Homer W. Smith Award of the American Society of Nephrology in 1970, and the David M. Hume Award of the National Kidney Foundation
National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered in New York City...

 in 1976. On his retirement in 1992, he was named Distinguished Research Professor of Medicine and Physiology; in the same year Roanoke College named him one of 150 Sesquicentennial Distinguished Alumni. After his death, annual lectures in his name were founded both by UNC and by the American Physiological Society
American Physiological Society
The American Physiological Society was founded in 1887 with 28 members. Of them, 21 were graduates of medical schools, but only 12 had studied in schools that had a professor of physiology. Today, the APS has 10,500 members, most of whom hold doctoral degrees in medicine, physiology or other...

.

Additional reading

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