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{{short description|British scientist}}{{About||the Australian bushranger|John Vane (bushranger)|the British peer|John Vane, 11th Baron Barnard}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2023}}

{{Infobox scientist
|birth_name              = John Robert Vane
| name = Sir John Vane
|image             = John Robert Vane.jpg
|birth_date        = {{birth date|df=y|1927|3|29}}
|birth_place       = [[Tardebigge]], [[Worcestershire]], England
|death_date        = {{death date and age|df=y|2004|11|19|1927|3|29}}
|death_place       = [[Kent]], England
|residence         = 
|citizenship       = United Kingdom
|ethnicity         = 
|field             = [[Pharmacology]]
|thesis_title = Blood flow and its relation to secretion in the stomach and smaller intestine
|thesis_url = http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph020303561
| thesis_year = 1952
|work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of London]]
* [[Yale University]]}}
|alma_mater        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Birmingham]] (BSc)
* [[University of Oxford]] (DPhil)}}
|doctoral_advisor  = [[Geoffrey S. Dawes]]
|doctoral_students = 
|known_for         = Research on [[prostaglandin]]s
|influences        = 
|influenced        = 
|prizes            = {{Plainlist|
*[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1974)<ref  name=frs/>
*[[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (1982)
*[[Royal Medal]] (1989)
*[[Lasker Award]] (1977)}}
|religion          = 
| spouse = {{marriage|Elizabeth Daphne Page|1948}}
}}
'''Sir John Robert Vane''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}} (29 March 1927 – 19 November 2004)<ref name=frs>{{Cite journal | last1 = Moncada | first1 = S. | author-link = Salvador Moncada| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2006.0027 | title = Sir John Robert Vane. 29 March 1927 -- 19 November 2004: Elected FRS 1974 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 52 | pages = 401–411 | year = 2006 | pmid =  18551797| s2cid = 38582901 | url = https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/sir-john-robert-vane-29-march-1927--19-november-2004(64fc0720-c729-4a9b-92d5-ae432614285b).html }}</ref> was a [[British people|British]] [[pharmacologist]] who was instrumental in the understanding of how [[aspirin]] produces pain-relief and anti-inflammatory effects and his work led to new treatments for heart and blood vessel disease and introduction of [[ACE inhibitor]]s. He was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in 1982 along with [[Sune K. Bergström|Sune Bergström]] and [[Bengt I. Samuelsson|Bengt Samuelsson]] for "their discoveries concerning [[prostaglandin]]s and related biologically active substances".<ref name=auto/>

==Education and early life==
Born in [[Tardebigge]], [[Worcestershire]], John Vane was one of three children and grew up in suburban Birmingham. His father, Maurice Vane, was the son of [[Jews|Jewish]] Russian immigrants<ref>According to an interview published in Candid Science II, by István Hargittai (Imperial College Press, London, 2002, p. 562).</ref> and his mother, Frances Vane, came from a [[Worcestershire]] farming family.<ref name=auto>{{Nobelprize|name=John R. Vane|accessdate=12 October 2020}}</ref> He attended a local state school from age 5, before moving on to [[King Edward's School, Birmingham|King Edward's School]] in [[Edgbaston]], [[Birmingham]]. An early interest in chemistry was to prove the inspiration for studying [[Chemistry|the subject]] at the [[University of Birmingham]] in 1944.

During his undergraduate studies, Vane became disenchanted with chemistry but still enjoyed experimentation. When [[Maurice Stacey]], the Professor of Chemistry at Birmingham, was asked by [[Joshua Harold Burn|Harold Burn]] to recommend a student to go to Oxford and study pharmacology, Vane jumped at the chance and moved to Burn's department in 1946. Under Burn's guidance, Vane found motivation and enthusiasm  for pharmacology, writing: ''"[the] laboratory gradually became the most active and important centre for pharmacological research in the U.K. and the main school for training of young pharmacologists."''<ref name=auto/> Vane completed a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[pharmacology]] and briefly went to work at the [[University of Sheffield]],{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} before coming back to Oxford to complete his [[Doctor of Philosophy]] degree in 1953<ref name=phd>{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=John Robert|last=Vane |title=Blood flow and its relation to secretion in the stomach and smaller intestine |publisher=University of Oxford |date=1952 |url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:oxfaleph020303561 }}</ref> supervised by [[Geoffrey S. Dawes|Geoffrey Dawes]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Liggins | first1 = G. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1998.0008 | title = Geoffrey Sharman Dawes, C. B. E. 21 January 1918-6 May 1996 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 44 | pages = 111–125 | year = 1998 | pmid =  11623979| doi-access =  }}</ref>

==Career and research==
After completing his DPhil, Vane worked as an assistant professor the Department of Pharmacology at [[Yale University]] before moving back to the United Kingdom to take up a post as a senior lecturer in the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences at the [[University of London]] in 1955.<ref name=r1/><ref>{{AcademicSearch|18576889}}</ref>

===University of London===
[[File:John Vane and Dr Salvador Moncada.jpg|thumb|235px|John Vane and [[Salvador Moncada]] in the 1960s]]
Vane held a post at the [[University of London]] for 18 years, progressing from senior lecturer to Professor of Experimental Pharmacology in 1966 (at the Royal College of Surgeons).  During that time he developed certain [[bioassay]] techniques and focussed his research on both [[angiotensin-converting enzyme]] and the actions of aspirin, eventually leading to the publication with Priscilla Piper of the relationship between aspirin and the prostaglandins that earned him the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=1149792 |doi=10.1016/0014-2999(75)90047-3 |year=1975 |author1=Moncada |last2=Ferreira |first2=SH |last3=Vane |first3=JR |title=Inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis as the mechanism of analgesia of aspirin-like drugs in the dog knee joint |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=250–60 |journal=European Journal of Pharmacology}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=4199867 |year=1973 |author1=Ferreira |last2=Moncada |first2=S |last3=Vane |first3=JR |title=Further experiments to establish that the analgesic action of aspirin-like drugs depends on the inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=629P–630P |pmc=1776306 |journal=British Journal of Pharmacology|doi = 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1973.tb08193.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=5284362 |year=1971 |author1=Ferreira |last2=Moncada |first2=S |last3=Vane |first3=JR |title=Indomethacin and aspirin abolish prostaglandin release from the spleen |volume=231 |issue=25 |pages=237–9 |journal=Nature New Biology |doi=10.1038/newbio231237a0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=5284360 |year=1971 |author1=Vane |title=Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis as a mechanism of action for aspirin-like drugs |volume=231 |issue=25 |pages=232–5 |journal=Nature New Biology |doi=10.1038/newbio231232a0}}</ref>

===Wellcome Foundation===
In 1973, Vane left his academic post at the Royal College of Surgeons and took up the position as Director of Research at the [[Wellcome Foundation]], taking a number of his colleagues with him who went on to form the Prostaglandin Research department. Under the leadership of [[Salvador Moncada]], this group continued important research that eventually led to the discovery of [[prostacyclin]].<ref name=r1>[http://www.whrf.org.uk/sirjohnvane/sirjohnvane.htm "Sir John R. Vane FRS, Nobel Laureate (1927–2004)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127015651/http://www.whrf.org.uk/sirjohnvane/sirjohnvane.htm |date=27 January 2013 }}. William Harvey Research Foundation.</ref>

===Return to academia===
In 1985, Vane returned to academic life and founded<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.whri.qmul.ac.uk/ | title=William Harvey Research Institute | publisher=[[Queen Mary, University of London]], UK | access-date=7 January 2012}}</ref> the [[William Harvey]] Research Institute at the Medical College of [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] (now [[Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/alumninetwork/notablealumni/index.html |title=Queen Mary, University of London Notable Alumni and Staff |access-date=23 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212074945/http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/alumninetwork/notablealumni/index.html |archive-date=12 December 2007 }}</ref>  At the William Harvey Research Institute, Vane's work focused on selective inhibitors of [[COX-2]], and the interplay between [[nitric oxide]] and [[endothelin]] in the regulation of [[Blood vessel|vascular]] function.<ref name=r1/>

==Awards and honours==
Vane was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1974|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1974]].<ref name=frs/> He was also awarded honorary doctorate degrees from [[Jagiellonian University Medical College]] (formerly Copernicus Academy of Medicine) in 1977, [[Paris Descartes University]] in 1978, [[Mount Sinai School of Medicine]] in 1980, the [[University of Aberdeen]] in 1983 and [[Fu Jen Catholic University]] in 2011.<ref name=auto/><ref>[http://www.fuho.fju.edu.tw/sketch/01-3-05.html 輔仁大學 校史室 >>輔仁歷史軌跡]</ref> He was awarded the [[Lasker Award]] in 1977 for the discovery of prostacyclin and was knighted in 1984 for his contributions to science. In 2000, Vane received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>

==Personal life==
John Vane married, in 1948, (Elizabeth) Daphne Page and had 2 daughters. He died on 19 November 2004 in [[Princess Royal University Hospital]], [[Kent]], from long-term complications arising from leg and hip fractures he sustained in May of that year.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/nov/25/guardianobituaries.health Obituary:Sir John Vane]. guardian.co.uk. 25 November 2004.</ref> Lady Vane died in 2021.<ref>[https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/vane-lady-elizabeth-daphne-n-e-page-notices_34200 VANE Lady, (Elizabeth) Daphne (née Page)]</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}
==External links ==
* {{Nobelprize|name=John R. Vane}}
{{Commons category}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1982 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{FRS 1974}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vane, John Robert}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:British Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:English Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:People from Bromsgrove District]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English pharmacologists]]
[[Category:Jewish British scientists|Vane, John Robert]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of London]]
[[Category:Academics of Queen Mary University of London]]
[[Category:Academics of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry]]
[[Category:English people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]
[[Category:Scientists from Worcestershire]]