biology

Michael O. Thorner

Michael O. Thorner is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Michael O. Thorner rather than just read about it. In short: Michael O. Thorner is David C.

Key takeaways

Michael O. Thorner belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Michael O. Thorner to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Michael O. Thorner from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Michael O. Thorner is David C. Harrison Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia specializing in endocrinology and metabolism. He was previously the chief of the division of endocrinology and metabolism and the chair of the department of internal medicine.

Education and career Thorner graduated with an MBBS from Middlesex Hospital at the University of London in 1970. He was a lecturer at St Bartholomew's Hospital at the University of London from 1974 to 1977. He joined the faculty of the University of Virginia as an associate professor in 1977, and was promoted to full professor in 1982. He held positions as the Kenneth R. Crispell Professor of Medicine (1990-1998), Henry B Mulholland Professor of Internal Medicine (1996-2006), David C. Harrison Medical Teaching Professor of Internal Medicine (2006-2014). He was director of the General Clinical Research Center (1984-1997), chief of the division of endocrinology and metabolism (1986-1998), and chair of the department of medicine (1997-2006). He retired in 2014.

Research Robert MacLeod's discovery that dopamine is the hormone responsible for inhibiting prolactin release led to Thorner being recruited to UVA to join in the research. He continued this work to develop treatment for prolactin-secreting pituitary tumors to restore normal prolactin levels and reduction the size of the tumor by using dopamine agonists. This is now the standard of care for patients with prolactin-secreting tumors. His work on human growth hormone was the basis of Merck's drug MK-677, which increases muscle mass in elderly adults and helps prevent frailty-related injuries. He was the chair of the National Institute on Aging Advisory Panel on Testosterone Replacement in Men (2000). In 2013, he received the highest award of the Endocrine Society, the Koch Medal.

Awards He has been honored with several awards, including:

1988 Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist Award 1984 Albion O. Bernstein Award, NY Medical Association 1992 Edwin B. Astwood Award, Endocrine Society 1995 GCRC Program Seventh Annual Award for Excellence in Clinical Research 1995 Pituitary Society Annual Award for Contributions to Understanding Pituitary Disease 1996 Theodore E. Woodward Award, American Clinical and Climatological Association 1999 John Phillips Memorial Award, American College of Physicians 1999 Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Gift Metabolic Research Gift Recipient 2000 Endocrine Society Distinguished Physician Award 2009 Dale Medal, British Endocrine Society 2013 Fred Conrad Koch Award, Endocrine Society 2024 Human Growth Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award He is an elected fellow of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1983, the Royal College of Physicians, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Clinical and Climatological Association and was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael O. Thorner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael O. Thorner claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Michael O. Thorner before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Michael O. Thorner ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Michael O. Thorner

In research: Michael O. Thorner appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Michael O. Thorner in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Michael O. Thorner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American endocrinologists, British scientists, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael O. Thorner outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Michael O. Thorner in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Michael O. Thorner means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Michael O. Thorner out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael O. Thorner in simple terms?

Michael O. Thorner is David C.

Why does Michael O. Thorner matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Michael O. Thorner?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Michael O. Thorner.