Joseph M. Rifkind, PhD
National Institute on Aging, NIH
Bethesda, Maryland

Presentation Title
Nitrite Reduction by Hemoglobin: the Intermediates and their Implications for the Release of NO Bioactivity from RBCs (Summary of Presentation)

Dr Joseph M. Rifkind received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Columbia University in 1966. He obtained postdoctoral training in protein chemistry at the University of Minnesota and joined the Gerontology Research Center of what was then part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1968. He is now Chief of the Molecular Dynamics Section in NIA. Dr Rifkind’s professional memberships include the American Chemical Society, the Biophysical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Gerontological Society of America, the International EPR (ESR) Society, and the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 papers.

Dr Rifkind’s section is presently involved in studying the structural and dynamic factors in hemoglobin which regulate the binding of oxygen as well as autoxidation with its associated release of superoxide. The finding that autoxidation of hemoglobin is appreciably enhanced at reduced oxygen pressures has led to the proposal of a novel method for producing oxyradicals under hypoxic conditions. Studies are being conducted to determine to what extent this mechanism contributes to the pathophysiology of aging.