Seymour Reichlin, M.D., Ph.D. is an American physician and neuroscientist in the field of neuroendocrinology. He contributed to understanding hypothalamic-pituitary relationships, stress responses, and hormonal regulation.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103, https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/brainmed/aop/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103.xml.Christine Wiebe, MA; Sue Carter, PhD; Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD, "Great Minds: When Sue Met Si," Medscape & Endocrine Society, July 11, 2017, https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/882252“Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD, an oral history,” conducted on June 13, 1999 by Adolph Freidman, MD, The Endocrine Society, The Clark Sawin Library, Chevy Chase, Maryland, 2009, https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/community/sawin/seymour-reichlin-031309.pdf
Reichlin authored more than 400 scholarly publicationsRonald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103, https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/brainmed/aop/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103.xml. and held leadership roles including President of the Endocrine Society (1975–1976)The Endocrine Society, “Past Presidents,” October 25, 2024, https://www.endocrine.org/our-community/advancing-endocrinology-and-public-health/history/past-presidents. and founding President of the Pituitary Society (1994).Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103, https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/brainmed/aop/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103.xml. He has served on advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), editorial boards including The New England Journal of Medicine. In 1992, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,American Academy of Arts & Sciences, “Dr. Seymour Reichlin,” https://www.amacad.org/person/seymour-reichlin. and in 1993, was awarded the Berthold Medal.Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Endocrinologie, “Preise und Stipendien der DGE,” https://www.endokrinologie.net/preistraeger.php.
Early life and education
Reichlin was born on the 31st of May, 1924, in New York City, the second of three children. His parents, Henry Reichlin and Celia Rosen Reichlin, immigrated to the United States around 1911 from Hlybokaye, Belarus. Henry Reichlin served in the U.S. Army in World War I, then ran a delicatessen in New York City, while Celia Reichlin worked in sales at Lord & Taylor.An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103, https://genomicpress.kglmeridian.com/view/journals/brainmed/aop/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103/article-10.61373-bm024g.0103.xml.
College After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1939 at age 15, he enrolled in the City College of New York. After his first year, he transferred to Antioch College for premedical training. While at Antioch, he studied the work of Walter Cannon on homeostasis and stress, which became a topic of his future research.Ibid.
After graduating college, Reichlin enlisted in the US Army in 1943, at age 19.“Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD, an oral history,” conducted on June 13, 1999 by Adolph Freidman, MD, The Endocrine Society, The Clark Sawin Library, Chevy Chase, Maryland, 2009, https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/community/sawin/seymour-reichlin-031309.pdf Following basic training, he was assigned to the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado to serve as a psychiatric orderly.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103. His experience in treating soldiers returning from the front lines of World War II with psychological trauma further pushed him towards a career studying the biological basis of mental health.MedicineManGallery, "Dr. Seymour Reichlin: Neuroendocrinologist (part 1) Epi. 92, Host Dr. Mark Sublette." YouTube, Mar. 18, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3ykvJyuY0.
After one year of service, he was admitted to the Washington University School of Medicine in 1944 and was honorably discharged from the Army to pursue a career in medicine through the newly-passed G.I. Bill.Ibid; Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103. He graduated first in his class with honors in 1948.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103.
Academic career and contributions to research
Science studies In 1952, Reichlin moved to London with his family to pursue a Ph.D. in Physiology at the University of London under Dr. Geoffrey Harris, known as the father of neuroendocrinology. Working as a fellow under Dr. Harris, Reichlin helped establish that the brain has an essential role in controlling the thyroid, challenging prevailing views that stress increases thyroid activity.Brown-Grant K, von Euler C, Harris GW, Reichlin S. The measurement and experimental modification of thyroid activity in the rabbit. J Physiol. 1954;126(1):1–28. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.1954.sp005188. His thesis and published studies contributed to the idea that the brain plays a central role in endocrine regulation.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103.
Returning to the U.S., he joined the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine as an instructor and senior research fellow from 1954 to 1961,“Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD, an oral history,” conducted on June 13, 1999 by Adolph Freidman, MD, The Endocrine Society, The Clark Sawin Library, Chevy Chase, Maryland, 2009, https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/community/sawin/seymour-reichlin-031309.pdf combining psychosomatic research with physiology. In 1962, Reichlin became Chief of Endocrinology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where his lab pioneered the use of radioimmunoassay for key hormones such as thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, and luteinizing hormone.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103. His group identified hypothalamic regions controlling growth hormone, and integrated physical and psychological stress studies into clinical endocrinology, an innovative approach for the time.
By the 1960s, Reichlin was a recognized authority in the emerging field of neuroendocrinology. He was invited to write a seminal three-part series for The New England Journal of Medicine in 1963,Seymour Reichlin, "Neuroendocrinology," New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 269, no. 24 (Dec. 5, 1963). DOI: 10.1056/NEJM196312052692306 which laid out the state of the field as it existed at the time, and authored the chapter on neuroendocrinology for five editions of the Williams Textbook of Endocrinology,Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103. which remains the "gold standard" industry textbook on endocrinology."Williams Textbook of Endocrinology," Science Direct, https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780323297387/williams-textbook-of-endocrinology As a member of the NIH Endocrinology Study Section, he played a key role in supporting research by Andrew Schally and Roger Guillemin, organizing a conference in 1969“Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD, an oral history,” conducted on June 13, 1999 by Adolph Freidman, MD, The Endocrine Society, The Clark Sawin Library, Chevy Chase, Maryland, 2009, https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/community/sawin/seymour-reichlin-031309.pdf; that proved a turning point in the discovery of the structure of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone, for which both men shared the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Metacelsus, "The Nobel Duel," Asimov Press, https://press.asimov.com/articles/nobel-duel
Research From 1969 to 1972, Reichlin chaired the Department of Medical and Pediatric Specialties at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, where he conducted studies on thyroid hormone metabolism, and some of the first research on pituitary function in individuals with gender dysphoria.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103.
Seeking a greater focus on research, he moved to the Tufts University School of Medicine in 1972, where he became the Chief of Endocrinology and Director of the General Clinical Research Center at Tufts Medical Center.Ibid. His research continued to uncover new dimensions of hypothalamic–pituitary interactions, including important studies on somatostatin and placental glucocorticoid receptors. His 1987 collaborative textbook, Clinical Neuroendocrinology, became a comprehensive reference in the field.Joseph B. Martin, "A debt owed to a wonderful mentor, Seymour Reichlin," Brain Medicine, December 3, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0124.
Later years
After retiring from Tufts in 1991, Reichlin joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine, where he held the Mel and Enid Zukerman Professorship of psychoneuroimmunology and continued to study how the brain regulates immune responses.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103. He concluded his research career as a Research Professor of Medicine before retiring in 1999.
Following his retirement, he has remained engaged with scientific research.StudyFinds Staff, "At 100, this scientist isn’t done yet — His latest research could change lives," StudyFinds, https://studyfinds.org/at-100-seymour-reichlin-scientific-research/ He continues to study how stress affects hormone levels and the immune system, the body’s ability to maintain emotional balance through hormonal changes, the neuroendocrinology and neuroimmunology of Alzheimer's disease, and the neurobiological basis of ecstatic mysticism.Ronald M. Lechan and Roberto Toni, “An overview of the life and career of Seymour Reichlin, MD, PhD,” Brain Medicine, November 5, 2024, DOI: 10.61373/bm024g.0103.
Personal life
Reichlin was married to his wife Elinor (“Ellie”) for nearly 60 years until her death in 2011. Elinor's father, William Dameshek, was a pioneering hematologist. In 1977, Ellie Reichlin brought to light what are believed to be the earliest photographs of enslaved people in the United States.Angie Orellana Hernandez and Rachel Hatzipanagos, "Harvard relinquishes possession of slave photos after years-long dispute," Washington Post, May 28, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/28/harvard-photo-slave-tamara-lanier-renty-taylor/Boyce Rensberger, "Earliest Pictures of Slaves Found in Harvard Attic, New York Times, May 31, 1977, https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/31/archives/earliest-pictures-of-slaves-found-in-harvard-attic.htmlElinor Reichlin, "Faces of Slavery: A Historical Find," American Heritage, vol. 28 No. 4 (June 1977), https://www.americanheritage.com/faces-slavery-historical-find