Sukhamay Lahiri Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2021
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Sukhamay Lahiri Papers
Creator:
Lahiri, Sukhamay
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0759
Physical Description:
4.25 Linear feet
(10 archives boxes, 3 oversize folders)
Physical Description:
7.6 GB
of digital files
Date (inclusive): 1967-2009
Abstract: Papers of physiologist Sukhamay Lahiri, documenting his research in oxygen sensing and high altitude physiology. Lahiri participated
in the Silver Hut Expedition of 1960-1961 and the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981. The collection
includes correspondence, writings, data, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and digital files.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of physiologist Sukhamay Lahiri, documenting his research in oxygen sensing and high altitude physiology. Lahiri participated
in the Silver Hut Expedition of 1960-1961 and the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981. The collection
includes correspondence, writings, data, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and digital files.
Arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA, 4) WRITINGS, 5) RESEARCH, 6) PHOTOGRAPHS
AND DIGITAL FILES.
Biography
Sukhamay (Larry) Lahiri was born April 1, 1933 in Natore, India (now in Bangladesh). He attended Presidency College at the
University of Calcutta, where he received a bachelor's degree with honors in physiology in 1951, a master's degree in 1953,
and a D. Phil. in 1956. Lahiri received a second D. Phil. in physiology from Oxford University in 1959. Returning to Calcutta
University, he worked as an assistant professor of physiology until moving to the United States in 1965. Lahiri was employed
as assistant professor of physiology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and then as senior research
associate at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute in Chicago. In 1969, Lahiri was hired as associate
professor, then professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Known as one of the world's leading researchers in oxygen sensing and homeostasis, Lahiri began his high altitude studies
in 1960 as a physiologist on Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, also known as the Silver
Hut Expedition. Four years later Lahiri was scientific leader for Hillary's Second School House Expedition, followed by the
World Health Organization Physiological Expedition in the Himalayas, two research expeditions to the Peruvian Andes, and an
expedition to Solu Khumbu. His last expedition was the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981, which conducted
physiological research on five climbers at the summit of Mt. Everest.
Lahiri's research included studies of the respiratory responses of high altitude residents of the Himalayas and the Peruvian
Andes, and studies of the carotid body, or primary oxygen sensing organ in the body. He served as associate editor of the
Journal of Applied Physiology and president of the International Society for Arterial Chemoreception, and he organized international symposia in the physiological
sciences. He was the recipient of a Merit Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Humboldt Award from
the Alexander Humboldt Foundation in Germany. Sukhamay Lahiri continued his research at the University of Pennsylvania until
shortly before his death on May 2, 2009.
Preferred Citation
Sukhamay Lahiri Papers. MSS 759. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2013
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Digital Content
The collection contains digital files described in the container list.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Altitude, Influence of
Acclimatization
Adaptation (Physiology)
Stress (Physiology)
Lahiri, Sukhamay -- Archives
BIOGRAPHICAL
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) BIOGRAPHICAL: Lahiri's curriculum vitae, biographical sketches, list of publications, an application for the Walter
B. Cannon award, and a photograph taken in 2005.
Box 1, Folder 1-3
Biographical information
1970-2006
Lahiri portrait (.jpg)
2005
CORRESPONDENCE
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) CORRESPONDENCE: Lahiri's professional correspondence with physiologists, mountaineers, editors of scientific journals,
physiological organizations, and international government agencies. Notable correspondents include Gerolf Gros, Toshi Hoshi,
Rodrigo Iturriaga, A.S. Paintal, Arijit Roy, and Peter Scheid. The series includes a letter of recommendation for Lahiri from
Sir Edmund Hillary, and a file of correspondence regarding the Silver Hut Reunion of 2000. Arranged alphabetically by surname
or subject.
CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA
Scope and Content of Series
Series 3) CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA: Correspondence, drafts, illustrations, and ephemera for talks on respiratory physiology
given by Lahiri, and planning materials for conferences and symposia on physiology organized by him. Includes a booklet from
a 2009 symposium on hypoxia given in his honor, with photographs and biographical information on Lahiri. Arranged chronologically.
Box 2, Folder 1-6
Lectures and conferences
1981-2008
Box 2, Folder 7-8
Symposia organized by Lahiri
1987-1997
Box 3, Folder 1-5
Symposia organized by or in honor of Lahiri
1999-2002
Oversize FB-236, Folder 3
Poster presentation, S. Lahiri and R. Iturriaga
WRITINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 4) WRITINGS: Drafts, notes, correspondence, data and reviews for research articles written or co-written by Lahiri
on high-altitude physiology, carotid bodies, sleep apnea, and oxygen sensing. The series includes the draft of a report for
the World Health Organization on the respiratory physiology of high altitude Nepal residents in 1971, and correspondence,
photographs and illustrations for Lahiri's book
Oxygen Sensing. Arranged chronologically.
Box 5, Folder 1-7
Articles
2004-2009, undated
Box 6, Folder 2-3
Book -
Cardio-Respiratory Function and Physical Performance Capacity of Native Residents of Nepal at Various Altitude: A Study on
the Effect of High Altitude
1971
Box 6, Folder 4-5
Book -
Oxygen Sensing: Responses and Adaptation to Hypoxia (2003)
2002
RESEARCH
Scope and Content of Series
Series 5) RESEARCH: Data, graphs, charts, notes, photographs, proposals, grant applications and correspondence for Lahiri's
research on high altitude physiology, carotid bodies, sleep studies, and respiratory physiology. Laboratory and expedition
notebooks kept by Lahiri and his research teams include one notebook on developmental adaptations to high altitude in Peru
in 1975, and four notebooks from the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest in 1981. Arranged chronologically.
Box 6, Folder 6-7
Research proposals and grants
1992-2007
Oversize FB-236, Folder 4
Oversize FB-236, Folder 5
Box 6, Folder 8-14
Experimental data
1975-1982
Box 7, Folder 1-15
Experimental data
1987-2005, undated
Box 7, Folder 16
Puno, Peru - Developmental adaptation to high altitude
1975
Box 7, Folder 17-18
Everest Base Camp Laboratory, American Medical Research Expedition to Everest (AMREE), Books I-II
1981 September
Box 8, Folder 1-2
Everest Base Camp Laboratory, American Medical Research Expedition to Everest (AMREE), Books III-IV
1981 October
Box 8, Folder 3-9
Laboratory notebooks
1969-2002
Box 9, Folder 1-6
Laboratory notebooks and notes
1974-2006, undated
PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIGITAL FILES
Scope and Content of Series
Series 6) PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIGITAL FILES: Micrographs of Lahiri's research in hypoxia and carotid bodies. Slides of human respiratory
research subjects in 1967, and of graphs and charts of Lahiri's research. The digital files are micrographs, animations and
PowerPoint presentations for Lahiri's and Arijit Roy's research in respiratory physiology, including TIF and Stickfigure Animator
formats. The digital files retain Lahiri's original file naming convention and structure, as he saved the files onto compact
discs. Consult the HTML file trees for lists of digital content.
Box 10, Folder 3-5
Slides
1967-1969, undated
Research files saved to disc
1999-2002
Research files saved to disc
1998
Research files saved to disc
1999
Research files saved to disc
1998-2000
Research files saved to disc
2000
Research files saved to disc
2000
Research files saved to disc
2000
Research files saved to disc
2000
Research files saved to disc
2001
Research files saved to disc
2001
Research files saved to disc
2001
Research files saved to disc
2001-2002
Research files saved to disc
2001
Research files saved to disc
2001-2002
Research files saved to disc
2000
Research files saved to disc
1998
