Joseph C. Aub
May 13, 1890 - December 30, 1973
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Scientific Discipline: Physiology and Pharmacology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1957)
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Endocrinologist Joseph Aub centered his research on cancer and industrial toxicity. He studied calcium metabolism to understand the effects of lead poisoning and he collaborated with the World Health Organization to promote industrial safety by preventing toxic mineral contamination within the workplace. By observing how glands control cell growth, he discovered lectin, a sugar-binding protein involved in biological recognition. This discovery led to the theory that the surfaces of normal cells and cancer cells are very different.
Aub earned his BS degree from Harvard University in 1911 and received his MD in 1914 from the Harvard Medical School. He accepted a position there as a professor of research medicine and was later appointed director of the medical laboratories at Huntington Memorial Hospital at Massachusetts General Hospital. During World War I he served in a special unit treating soldiers with pneumonia at base hospitals. After the war he returned to a position as instructor of physiology and assistant professor of applied physiology at Harvard Medical School. He was a member of the Society of Endocrinology and the American Association for Cancer Research.
