William Archer Hagins (died June 6, 2012) was an American medical researcher. He was chief of the Section of Membrane Biophysics in National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases's Laboratory of Chemical Physics upon his retirement in 2007. Hagins and colleagues made the seminal discovery of the dark current in photoreceptor cells. This finding became central to understanding how the visual cells worked and led to knowledge of the importance of reattaching a detached retina as soon as possible for continued use. As a fellow of Fulbright Program, he'd also served in the United States Navy as a Research Medical Officer. He joined NIDDK's Laboratory of Physical Biology in 1958, doing independent research in the Section of Photobiology, headed by Frederick Sumner Brackett. Hagins was a mentor to many, particularly through his work with the Brackett Foundation.
Education William A. Hagins was a native Washingtonian, Chevy Chase resident. In Stanford University California, he got a bachelor's degree in biology, and continued to get a master's degree in anatomy in 1948. In 1951, he graduated from School of Medical in Stanford University. With a Fulbright fellowship, he studied at the physiology laboratory in University of Cambridge, England. In 1958, he received his doctorate.
Career William A. Hagins joined NIDDK's Laboratory of Physical Biology in 1958. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and was a past president of the Biophysical Society. He was involved in various professional journals as an editor or editorial board member. He was a mentor to graduate students and postdoctoral physicians. In the 1960s, Hagins and his group showed how the eye transforms images in the retina to produce the sensation of vision.
Research interests Hagins as an graduate student in Stanford University worked on the project about the influence of diameter on the characteristics of the action potential of single nerve fibers. At the physiology laboratory in University of Cambridge, Hagins focused on the phototransduction of rhodopsin, especially the photosensitivity, the photobleaching and flash photolysis. After joining Laboratory of Physical Biology, Hagins went deep into this field and made more efforts on studying the photoelectric effects of functional photoreceptors in retina, especially squid retina. With enormous efforts on the photoelectric effects in retinal, Hagins and colleagues found the dark current in retinal rods. Hagins with his group did a series of research to explore the cell biological mechanisms of rods and cones at molecular level. Hagins also did some works on optics and microscopy.
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