{{Short description|Chilean-American researcher}} '''Francisco Bezanilla''' is a Chilean-American scientist and professor at the University of Chicago. He is a past president of the Biophysical Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
==Biography== Raised in Santiago, Bezanilla took an early interest in science. When Chile hosted the 1962 World Cup, it was uncommon for people to own televisions, so Bezanilla and a friend began building their own television to watch the tournament. While the rudimentary TV was not completed in time for the World Cup, Bezanilla later built a better TV with commercial parts from Argentina, and Bezanilla's family used it for many years.<ref name="PNAS">{{cite journal |last1=Mossman |first1=Kaspar |title=Profile of Francisco Bezanilla |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=November 13, 2008 |volume=105 |issue=46 |pages=17597–17599 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0810116105 |pmid=19008354 |pmc=2584747 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10517597M |language=en |issn=0027-8424|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Bezanilla earned an undergraduate biology degree as well as master's and Ph.D. degrees in biophysics, all from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.<ref name=UC/> Initially intending to earn a medical degree, Bezanilla shifted his focus to research and the Ph.D. program, finding that he liked how neurophysiology combined two of his interests, electronics and biology.<ref name=Mossman>{{cite journal|last1=Mossman|first1=K.|title=Profile of Francisco Bezanilla|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=November 13, 2008|volume=105|issue=46|pages=17597–17599|doi=10.1073/pnas.0810116105|pmid=19008354|pmc=2584747|bibcode=2008PNAS..10517597M|doi-access=free}}</ref> He conducted research on the nerve cells of Humboldt squid at the Montemar Institute of Marine Biology.<ref name=Nature>{{cite journal|last1=Scully|first1=Tony|title=Neuroscience: The great squid hunt|journal=Nature|date=August 20, 2008|volume=454|issue=7207|pages=934–936|doi=10.1038/454934a|pmid=18719561|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Leaving Chile for the United States in 1969, Bezanilla completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Institutes of Health. While in the US, Bezanilla heard that the Humboldt squid was no longer available in Chilean waters. Also noting the political changes in Chile under Augusto Pinochet, he decided to stay in the US. Working on gating current experiments, he became a frequent collaborator with Clay Armstrong, who he had met at Montemar.<ref name=Mossman/> In experiments at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, Bezanilla and Armstrong built their own signal averaging device and became the first to measure the tiny gating currents in sodium channels.<ref name=Mossman/>
In 1977, Bezanilla became a neuroscience professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and later joined the University of Chicago, becoming the Lillian Eichelberger Cannon Professor in the Department of Pediatrics.<ref name=UC>{{cite web|title=Francisco Bezanilla|url=https://news.uchicago.edu/profile/francisco-bezanilla|publisher=University of Chicago|accessdate=November 24, 2015}}</ref> Bezanilla was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2006.<ref name=NAS>{{cite web|title=Francisco Bezanilla|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/60662.html|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|accessdate=November 24, 2015}}</ref> He was the 2013-2014 president of the Biophysical Society.<ref name=BPS>{{cite web|title=Past Officers|url=http://www.biophysics.org/AboutUs/Leadership/PastOfficers/tabid/2241/Default.aspx|publisher=Biophysical Society|accessdate=November 24, 2015}}</ref> Some of his recent work includes the application of light pulses to gold nanoparticles to activate neurons.<ref name=SABlog>{{cite web|last1=Yonck|first1=Richard|title="Optocapacitance" shines new light on the brain|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/8216-optocapacitance-8217-shines-new-light-on-the-brain/|publisher=Scientific American|accessdate=November 24, 2015|date=April 10, 2015}}</ref>
He is a member of the Editorial Board for ''PNAS''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pnas.org/page/about/editorial-board|title = Editorial Board | PNAS}}</ref>
Bezanilla's daughter Magdalena is a biologist and university professor.<ref name=Diverse>{{cite web|last1=Nealy|first1=Michelle|title=Emerging Scholars: Cell Biology Pioneer – Magdalena Bezanilla|url=http://diverseeducation.com/article/16806/|publisher=Diverse: Issues in Higher Education|accessdate=November 24, 2015|date=February 2, 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezanilla, Francisco}} Category:Living people Category:Chilean scientists Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty Category:University of Chicago faculty Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Presidents of the Biophysical Society