Papers of physiologist Sukhamay Lahiri, documenting his research in oxygen sensing and high altitude physiology. Lahiri participated in the Silver Hut Expedition of 1960-1961 and the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981. The collection includes correspondence, writings, data, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and digital files.
Sukhamay Lahiri Papers, 1967-2009 (MSS 759)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Extent: 4.25 Linear feet (10 archives boxes, 3 oversize folders), + 7.6 GB of digital files
Digital Content
The collection contains digital files described in the container list.
Sukhamay (Larry) Lahiri was born April 1, 1933 in Natore, India (now in Bangladesh). He attended Presidency College at the University of Calcutta, where he received a bachelor's degree with honors in physiology in 1951, a master's degree in 1953, and a D. Phil. in 1956. Lahiri received a second D. Phil. in physiology from Oxford University in 1959. Returning to Calcutta University, he worked as an assistant professor of physiology until moving to the United States in 1965. Lahiri was employed as assistant professor of physiology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and then as senior research associate at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute in Chicago. In 1969, Lahiri was hired as associate professor, then professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Known as one of the world's leading researchers in oxygen sensing and homeostasis, Lahiri began his high altitude studies in 1960 as a physiologist on Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, also known as the Silver Hut Expedition. Four years later Lahiri was scientific leader for Hillary's Second School House Expedition, followed by the World Health Organization Physiological Expedition in the Himalayas, two research expeditions to the Peruvian Andes, and an expedition to Solu Khumbu. His last expedition was the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981, which conducted physiological research on five climbers at the summit of Mt. Everest.
Lahiri's research included studies of the respiratory responses of high altitude residents of the Himalayas and the Peruvian Andes, and studies of the carotid body, or primary oxygen sensing organ in the body. He served as associate editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology and president of the International Society for Arterial Chemoreception, and he organized international symposia in the physiological sciences. He was the recipient of a Merit Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Humboldt Award from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation in Germany. Sukhamay Lahiri continued his research at the University of Pennsylvania until shortly before his death on May 2, 2009.
Papers of physiologist Sukhamay Lahiri, documenting his research in oxygen sensing and high altitude physiology. Lahiri participated in the Silver Hut Expedition of 1960-1961 and the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981. The collection includes correspondence, writings, data, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and digital files.
Arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA, 4) WRITINGS, 5) RESEARCH, 6) PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIGITAL FILES.
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