Lerner, Aaron Bunsen

Aaron Lerner was born in Minneapolis in 1920. He received his undergraduate, doctoral, and medical degrees from the University of Minnesota. He was a faculty member at the University of Michigan and the University of Oregon before coming to Yale in 1956, at which time he became the first director of the dermatology division within the Department of Internal Medicine. In 1971, the Department of Dermatology was established as a freestanding department with Lerner appointed chair. He remained in this position until his retirement in 2000. He is credited with isolating the compound Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH) and the protein cryoglobulin. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for the discovery of melatonin, a hormone regulating human sleep-wake cycles. Lerner died in New Haven, Connecticut, on February 3, 2007.

Aaron Lerner was born in Minneapolis in 1920. He received his undergraduate, medical, and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota. He was a faculty member at the University of Michigan and the University of Oregon before coming to Yale in 1956, at which time he became the first director of the dermatology division within the Department of Internal Medicine. In 1971, the Department of Dermatology was established as a freestanding department with Lerner appointed chair. Lerner remained in this position until his retirement in 2000. He is credited with isolating the compound Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH) and the protein cryoglobulin. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for the discovery of melatonin, a hormone regulating human sleep-wake cycles. Lerner died in New Haven, Connecticut, on February 3, 2007.