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Wesley C. Hymer, professor of biochemistry and holder of Penn State's Faculty Scholar Medal for Life and Medical Sciences, has retired with emeritus status after 35 years on the faculty at Penn State.

Internationally known for his pioneering space studies, Hymer was principal investigator in 1983 on the first experiment conducted aboard the Space Shuttle in which live cells were processed by electrophoresis, a separation technique.  Over the next 10 years, he led five more cell studies that were conducted in space, including two in the Cosmos biosatellite series, a joint Russian-U.S. effort. His collaborative experiment with Japanese investigators in 1994 demonstrated the utility of bioprocessing techniques in the low-gravity environment.

Hymer's space experiments with living cells developed conclusive evidence that the hormone output and activity of pituitary-gland cells is adversely affected by the lack of gravity in space.  These pituitary-hormone effects are now taken into account by NASA in planning for astronaut health during space flight.

In 1987, Hymer launched the Penn State Center for Cell Research (CCR), a NASA-sponsored portion of the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space program.  Two years later, he helped develop the successful proposal that won Penn State participation in NASA's Space Grant College program, which continues to support student research in the space sciences as well as other space-related activities.

Under Hymer's leadership, CCR focused on developing commercial biomedical and biotechnical experiments based on the idea that space could be used as a testbed for the development of new medicines. With Genentech, Inc., in 1990, CCR conducted the first commercial space experiment in which a proprietary pharmaceutical was tested in live laboratory rats aboard the Space Shuttle.  Two years later, CCR conducted a similar experiment with Merck & Co., Inc., on a new anti-osteoporosis medication that is now in general use under the trade name Fosamax.  Other experiments were conducted with Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Merocel Corp., Boehringer Ingelheim, Clontech Laboratories, the Space Dermatology Foundation and Genetics Institute, Inc.

By 1993, when NASA changed its focus and retired the Centers for the Commercial Development of Space program, CCR had flown commercial experiments aboard four Space Shuttle missions and three sounding-rocket flights, developed four patented  products, and renewed NASA's interest in electrophoresis as a space-processing technique.

Penn State awarded Hymer the Faculty Scholar medal in 1990 for his achievements in space research as well as his ground-based studies of the pituitary gland, which have included topics in the synthesis, processing, and secretion of mammalian pituitary hormones, isolation of bioactive hormone forms, and pituitary-cell separation. His studies of the pituitary also were recognized by the National Institutes of Health with a Research Career Development Award.

More recently, over the last five years, Hymer has taught a popular course on the human body for nonscience majors.  He also has been involved in continuing studies of electrophoretic processing as well as in starting a new investigation of the relationships between strength training and hormones.  In retirement, he plans to continue consulting and conducting cell research.  He is also a member of the National Institutes of Health Multidisciplinary Special Emphasis Small Business Innovation Research Study Section.

A native of Wisconsin, he earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Before joining the Penn State faculty in 1965, he served as both a Postdoctoral Fellow and a Staff Fellow at the National Cancer Institute.
 

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This page is maintained by Barbara K. Kennedy: science@psu.edu, (814) 863-4682 and Leta A. Krumrine; LAK15@psu.edu, (814) 863-8453

Last update:  27 June 2000