Philip Showalter Hench — American physician and Nobel laureate in medicine

Early life and education

Hench grew up in the northeastern United States and pursued undergraduate studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He completed medical training that included time with the United States Army Medical Corps and further study at the University of Pittsburgh. Those formative experiences prepared him for a career that combined bedside observation with systematic clinical investigation.

Medical career and research

Hench joined the staff of the Mayo Clinic in 1923 and over the following decades became head of its Department of Rheumatology. Working alongside biochemists and pharmacologists such as Edward C. Kendall, Hench pursued the clinical testing of compounds derived from the adrenal cortex. In partnership with laboratory discoveries by Kendall and the independent chemical work of Swiss scientist Tadeus Reichstein, Hench applied a purified steroid to patients with severe inflammatory joint disease.

Discovery and Nobel Prize

Hench's careful clinical observations revealed that administration of the steroid later known as cortisone produced dramatic symptomatic relief in many patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These results, confirmed and expanded by follow-up studies, established corticosteroids as a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs and earned Hench, Kendall and Reichstein the 1950 Nobel Prize. The award acknowledged both the chemical isolation and synthesis performed in laboratories and the clinical application led by Hench. The Nobel recognition is often referenced in summaries of modern rheumatology (Nobel citation).

Impact, uses and limitations

The introduction of cortisone and related corticosteroids revolutionized the management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, relieving pain, swelling and functional loss for countless patients. Corticosteroids remain essential in medicine for acute control of inflammation, in transplant medicine and in many autoimmune disorders. At the same time, their potent effects carry risks — including immune suppression, metabolic changes and bone loss — which led clinicians and researchers to seek safer long-term strategies and steroid-sparing therapies.

Legacy and notable facts

Hench is remembered for bridging clinical insight and therapeutic innovation. His career illustrates how patient observation, collaboration between clinicians and chemists, and disciplined clinical trials can produce breakthroughs. He maintained a long association with the Mayo Clinic and guided the growth of rheumatology as a distinct medical specialty. For quick reference, notable points include:

• Nobel Prize: Shared in 1950 for work leading to cortisone therapy (award record).
• Collaborators: Edward C. Kendall (Kendall) and Tadeus Reichstein (Reichstein).
• Institution: Long-term service and leadership at the Mayo Clinic.
• Education: Lafayette College, training with the United States Army Medical Corps and the University of Pittsburgh.

Hench's work remains a cornerstone in the history of therapeutics and a classic example of clinical discovery informed by laboratory science. For further reading or archival material, consult institutional histories and medical reviews that document the development of corticosteroid therapy and the evolution of rheumatology as a specialty (biographical summaries, pharmacology reviews, disease overviews, local histories, regional archives, university records).