Julius Axelrod dies

Julius Axelrod, co-recipient of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his research on neurotransmitters, died on December 29, 2004, at his home in Rockville, Md. He was 92.

Michael Brownstein, who worked as a postdoc in Axelrod's lab at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in the 1970s, said that Axelrod, known to his colleagues as "Julie," was best known for his enthusiasm. "If I had to epitomize what made Julie special, it was ultimately his buoyancy," Brownstein, an NIMH geneticist, told The Scientist. "I don't know anyone who was as consistently enthusiastic about science as Julie, and it wasn't just about his own data or data from his own lab. He had this special capacity… to understand and take pleasure in other people's data."

After majoring in biology at City College of New York, Axelrod wanted to be a physician but was rejected by all ...