Rudolph Schoenheimer

Who was Rudolph Schoenheimer?

Rudolph Schoenheimer was a German/ U.S. biochemist who developed the technique of isotope tagging of biomolecules, enabling detailed study of metabolism.

Born in Berlin, after graduating in medicine from the Friedrich Wilhelm University there, he learned further organic chemistry at the University of Leipzig and then studied biochemistry at the University of Freiburg.

In 1933, he moved to Columbia University to join the department of Biological Chemistry and worked with David Rittenberg, from the radiochemistry laboratory of Harold C. Urey, later together with Konrad Bloch, using stable isotopes to tag foodstuffs and trace their metabolism within living things.

He further established that cholesterol is a risk factor in atherosclerosis. Link to photograph His death was due to suicide by cyanide.