Spotlight on Faculty – Frieden, Carl

Carl Frieden was born and raised in New Rochelle, New York. He obtained his B.A. degree from Carleton College and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin under the mentorship of Robert A. Alberty. In 1955, Dr. Frieden joined the Department of Biological Chemistry at Washington University School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow to work with Dr. Sidney Velick. He was hired by Carl Cori as an Instructor in 1957 and promoted to full professor in 1967. Dr. Frieden has served both as Interim Head (from 1987 to 1990 and from 1997 to 2000) and Head (from 2000 to 2005) of the Department. Among other awards, he has received the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award and the Second Century Award from Washington University. He has also been awarded the Peter Raven Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis Science Center as well as the Christian B. Anfinsen Award from the Protein Society. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1988 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. From 1995-2000 he was an Alumni Endowed Professor and, from 2000 to 2005, the Wittcoff Endowed Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. He served as Director of the Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) from 1986-1991.

Dr. Frieden has not only contributed to the scientific community but also to our community as a whole through music and art programs. In 1975, Dr. Frieden initiated and ran a program called Music in Moore that invited (mostly) members of the St. Louis Symphony to play over the lunch hour in Moore Auditorium. There were 3-4 concerts each year, over the span of 10 years. In 2000, Dr. Frieden initiated and ran a program to exhibit art work around the medical school campus with both inside and outside displays. There were 5 such exhibits over the span of five years.

His current research deals with two problems: the investigation and understanding of the properties of apolipoproteins E (apoEs), the major risk factor for the development of late onset Alzheimer’s disease and a bacterial system that leads to formation of biofilms.