Seymour S.

Kety
Seymour S. Kety (August 25, 1915 – May 25, 2000)
was an American neuroscientist who was credited with Seymour S. Kety
making modern psychiatry a rigorous and heuristic Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
branch of medicine by applying basic science to the August 25, 1915
study of human behavior in health and disease.[1] After Died May 25, 2000 (aged 84)
Kety died, his colleague Louis Sokoloff noted that: Education University of Pennsylvania
"He discovered a method for measuring blood flow in
Known for Use of citrate to decrease lead
the brain, was the first scientific director of the
poisoning; study of
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and
schizophrenia
produced the most-definitive evidence for the essential
involvement of genetic factors in schizophrenia." [2] Spouse Josephine Gross
Awards Ralph W. Gerard Prize in
Neuroscience, NAS Award in
Childhood the Neurosciences
Scientific career
Semyour S. Kety was born in Philadelphia,
Fields Psychiatry, genetics
Pennsylvania in 1915. Raised in a humble family
household in Philadelphia, Kety was intellectually Institutions Philadelphia General Hospital,
challenged and stimulated. As a child, Kety was University of Pennsylvania,
Harvard, Johns Hopkins
involved in a car accident that injured his foot. Though
University
he could still walk, Kety remained slightly physically
impaired. Academic Joseph Charles Aub
advisors

Schooling
For his education, Kety stayed in his home town of Philadelphia. Kety attended Central High School in
Philadelphia and found himself excelling greatly in chemistry. Running his own experiments in his
homemade laboratory, Kety found a passion for chemistry. Throughout high school, he pursued his
interest in the physical sciences and also gained knowledge of both Greek and Latin. Kety attended
college and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1940. He did a
rotating internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital, but that was the extent of his clinical training.
After finishing his internship, Kety went into research.[1][2]

Kety's first contribution to science

During his internship, he married Josephine Gross, a childhood friend. She too was studying to be a
doctor. Josephine wanted to be a pediatrician, which inspired Seymour to do research and study more
about children. An increase in lead poisoning led to Kety's first contribution to medicine. More and more
children came down with lead poisoning because they were chewing on their cribs, coated in paint
containing lead. Seymour began to think about citrate to relieve the children of their lead poisoning.
Citrate would help flush the lead out of the children's systems through urination. Called a chelating agent,
citrate was the first thing used to help treat heavy metal intoxication.[1][2]

Kety's slow transition to psychology

Following his internship, Kety decided to continue his research of lead poisoning. The National Research
Council post-doctorate fellowship, received by Kety to continue his research, began in 1942. Kety
worked under the supervision of lead poisoning specialist Joseph Charles Aub. Only after Seymour
arrived prepared to start his fellowship did he learn that Aub changed his area of study — he was now
working with traumatic and hemorrhagic shock. Joseph Aub changed his work to study the shock because
it was a time of war, and the research was pressing. While working with Aub, Kety found the circulation
of the heart to be fascinating. Instead of returning to Harvard, Kety went to his alma mater, the University
of Pennsylvania. While back in Pennsylvania, Seymour worked with Carl Schmidt, an expert in cerebral
circulation. Kety became a pharmacology instructor at the university.[1][2]

Commonly known as a great teacher, Seymour was very popular among his students. Soon, everyone that
knew Kety learned that he had a profound interest in cerebral circulation. His desire for knowledge was
mostly to understand the process and to measure the flow of blood. Eventually, Kety and Schmidt worked
together to form experiments about the cerebral circulation in a human. In time, they found a very
effective method of measuring the flow of blood. Their work together was revolutionary.[1][2]

After collaborating with many doctors on various projects, Seymour S. Kety became the chairman of the
department of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University in 1961. After only one year, Kety resigned due to
his lack of experience in psychiatry. He returned to his job as the Chief of Laboratory Science. Seymour,
however, continued the research he was working on. He was researching the causes of schizophrenia. His
focus was based on the genetic influences that cause the disease.[1][2]

Kety's results
Seymour spent much of his life studying schizophrenia. He said that genetic influences may be largely
responsible for psychosis, comparing it to phenylketonuria or Huntington's disease.[3] Kety's discoveries
have been used and further developed into new theories.[1]

Seymour Kety's legacy

Kety had three major contributions in three different areas. In psychiatry, Kety discovered the strong link
between genetics and the staggering disease of schizophrenia. As a physiologist, Seymour studied
cerebral circulation and made advancements in the field. Kety's work with neuroscience was also a large
accomplishment.[1]

Kety was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[4] the United States National
Academy of Sciences,[5] and the American Philosophical Society.[6]

In 1981, Kety became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.[7]

He never trained in psychiatry although he changed its course. In 1986, he was awarded the Ralph W.
Gerard Prize in Neuroscience. In 1988 Kety and Louis Sokoloff were jointly awarded the NAS Award in
the Neurosciences from the National Academy of Sciences.[8] Kety also received awards from some of
the most prestigious scientific groups, including the American Society of Arts and Sciences and the
American Philosophical Association.

References
1. Holzman, Philip S. (2000). "Seymour S. Kety 1915–2000" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F7743
5). Nature Medicine. 6 (7): 727. doi:10.1038/77435 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F77435).
PMID 10888908 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10888908).
2. Wendorf, Fred (2003). Biographical memoirs. Washington: National Academy of Sciences.
pp. 61–79. ISBN 0-309-08699-X.
3. Kety, SS; Rosenthal, D; Wender, PH; Schulsinger, F; Jacobsen, B (1975). "Mental illness in
the biological and adoptive families of adopted individuals who have become schizophrenic:
a preliminary report based on psychiatric interviews". Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of
the American Psychopathological Association. 63 (63): 147–65. PMID 1242222 (https://pub
med.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1242222).
4. "Seymour Solomon Kety" (https://www.amacad.org/person/seymour-solomon-kety).
American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
5. "Seymour S. Kety" (http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/53841.
html). www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
6. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Seymour+S.
+Kety&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=adv
anced). search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
7. "About Us" (http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org/about-us/). World Cultural Council.
Retrieved November 8, 2016.
8. "NAS Award in the Neurosciences" (http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/neuroscienc
es.html). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 5 April 2012.

External links
National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir (http://www.nasonline.org/publications/b
iographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/kety-seymour.pdf)
Interview with Kety 1994 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bKBcSXsnps&index=15&list=
PLC9539B116147A98A)

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