William A. Catterall

University of Washington

October 12, 1946 - February 28, 2024


Scientific Discipline: Physiology and Pharmacology
Membership Type:
Member (elected 1989)

Bill Catterall received a B.A. in Chemistry from Brown University in 1968, a Ph.D. in Physiological Chemistry from Johns Hopkins in 1972, and postdoctoral training in neurobiology and molecular pharmacology as a Muscular Dystrophy Association Fellow with Dr. Marshall Nirenberg at the National Institutes of Health from 1972 to 1974. Following three years as a staff scientist at NIH, he joined the University of Washington in 1977 as Associate Professor of Pharmacology, became Professor in 1981, and served as Chair from 1984 to 2016. Catterall discovered the voltage-gated sodium and calcium channel proteins, which initiate electrical and chemical signaling in excitable cells. His work has contributed much to understanding their structure, function, regulation, molecular pharmacology, and roles in diseases. Catterall is a member of several science academies, including the US National Academy of Science, National Academy of Medicine, and the Royal Society of London, UK. He has received numerous awards, including the Gairdner International Award of Canada in 2010.

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