Knisely, Melvin H. (Melvin Henry), 1904-

Melvin Henry Knisely was born in 1904 in Hillman, Michigan. He graduated from Albion College, Albion, Michigan in 1927 with an A.B. degree. He taught high school physics for three years before entering the University of Chicago from which he received his Ph. D. degree in 1935. In 1931 Dr. Knisely developed a new technique, using a fused quartz rod, for examining tissues and organs in living animals. With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Knisely continued his research at the University of Chicago and eventually spent one year at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, under Nobel Prize winner August Krogh. From 1937-1948 Dr. Knisely served on the University of Chicago faculty and performed research on malaria in conjunction with the University of Tennessee from 1940 to 1942. Dr. Knisely was appointed Chairman of the Department of Anatomy for the Medical College of South Carolina (MCSC) in 1948, and served in that position for more than 20 years. Upon his retirement in 1969, he served in the department as a professor of anatomy until his death in 1975. He was known in the field of medicine for his blood circulatory discoveries and a number of other facets of that field. One of his continuing interests in Charleston was in the field of sickle cell anemia. Dr. Knisely was internationally known for his work in blood circulatory problems. He described the characteristics of circulating blood in health and disease and recognized the significance of intravascular agglutination of blood elements as a manifestation of pathologic physiology, for which he coined the term "sludged." He was also internationally known for his microscopic studies in living anatomy. He developed the fused quartz rod whereby delicate living tissues can be transilluminated without damage for microscopic study. He was also known for his contributions to the knowledge of liver and splenic circulation. Dr. Knisely was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received honorary degrees from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Medical University of South Carolina. With other medical scientists, he helped establish the American and European Microcirculation Conferences and the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue.