Graf, Laszlo

biochemist

Mr. Gráf was born in Zalaegerszeg on 6 June 1942. He obtained his degree in chemistry in 1965 at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences (ELTE). He was a research fellow at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research in Budapest for ten years, and then worked there for another ten years as the head of the Department of Biochemistry. At the Institute of Pharmaceutical Research he was explored the structure and structural functions of various peptide hormones of hypophysis. He spent a total of seven years at the Hormone Research Institute of the University of San Francisco and at the Center for Neurochemistry in New York City. Between 1984 and 1986, he learned the DNA re-combination method at the University of San Francisco. He has been a professor at the Biochemistry Department of ELTE since 1985, and head of that department since 1986. He introduced a new research focus at the department with the objective of further examination of the functional mechanisms of serine proteases. He defended his candidate's dissertation in 1972 and his academic doctoral theses in 1982. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences took him as an associate member in 1993, and he was made a full member in 2001. His scientific work was rewarded with an Academy Prize in 1979 and the Széchenyi Prize in 2002.

Protein-Engineering: The Joy of Creation and Its Benefits