Scientist Ted Sourkes pioneered Parkinsons treatment

Theodore (Ted) Lionel Sourkes worked to solve the riddle of chemicals within the body like a detective in the mystery novels he enjoyed. He was both a biochemist and a neuropsychopharmacologist, a specialist who makes connections between different chemicals in the brain in order to understand and develop new medications for mental and neurological disorders. In this pursuit he was highly successful. Dr. Sourkes was one of the pioneers behind the concept of todays most effective treatment against symptoms of Parkinsons disease.

The Montreal scientist also studied the metabolism of brain neurotransmitters and the role of vitamins in the nervous system. Long before the notion became widely accepted, he recognized that mental illnesses might be caused by biochemical alterations in specific regions of the brain. Dr. Sourkes died of pneumonia on Jan. 17 at Montreal General Hospital. He was 95.

Dr. Sourkes had a reputation worldwide as one of Canadas great scholars. He published hundreds of papers, and wrote books, one on the biochemistry of mental disease (with the same title), and another on the history of Nobel Prize winners in medicine and physiology. Although the Nobel Prize eluded him, he received numerous honours including the first Heinz-Lehmann Award in neuropsychopharmacology, in 1982, and the Wilder-Penfield Prix du Quebec, in 1998. He was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1992

Colleague and friend Claudio Cuello, past chair of McGills Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, says the scientific world is populated with large egos, but Dr. Sourkes was different. He was a most humble self-effacing individual, Dr. Cuello said.

In 2013, McGill University instituted the Theodore L. Sourkes Lecture Series in Neuropharmacology as a tribute to his scientific legacy.

Theodore Sourkes was born on Feb. 21, 1919, in Montreal, the second son of Isadore (Ike) and Fanny Sourkes (ne Golt). The family lived above a tavern at the corner of Boulevard St-Laurent and Rue Villeneuve. Ike Sourkes managed several movie theatres throughout the silent-film era and into the early days of talkies. His son Ted never lost the love for old films.

A bookish boy, Ted Sourkes fell in love with science in Grade 10, when he encountered chemistry and physics. In a family memoir he wrote, I felt I was now getting answers to many of the things I had not understood previously or had accepted without question and the new information was very exciting, sometimes even of use practically. As an example of practicality he wrote: One morning our toaster was on the blink because the wires to the plug were torn. My mother said, Dad will fix it tonight. I replied, No, Ill do it now. By this time I had learned enough about electricity in the physics course to realize what had to be done and, for the first time in my life, did such a repair. My mother was astounded. And I was convinced about the power of theory.

The Sourkes family lived for a time in Quebec City, where Mr. Sourkes graduated from Commissioners High School. Montreal, however, was the city where he felt at home. He knew the stories behind many of its landmarks, streets and alleys, and delighted in giving tours to family and friends. His university of choice was McGill, where he obtained his BSc in Nutritional Sciences.

With the advent of the Second World War, he wanted to join the army but was refused because of poor eyesight. Disappointed, but wanting to contribute, he took a job in Toronto at a chemical engineering factory, building munitions for the war effort. In Toronto he met Shena Rosenblatt, a petite dark-haired woman studying to become an anesthesiologist. Their attraction was instantaneous and enduring. The couple married in Jan. 17, 1943, and started a family. Their first daughter, Doreen, died of Tay-Sachs disease when she was 3. Two other daughters, Barbara and Myra, were subsequently born and remained healthy.

After the war, Ted Sourkes followed the advice of his in-laws and returned to higher education. After getting an MSc at McGills Macdonald College in 1946, he and Shena moved to Ithaca, N.Y., where he obtained a PhD in biochemistry from Cornell University. Dr. Sourkes taught pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical School before working for the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research. While he was at Merck, his research led to the development of Aldomet, the first effective medicine to treat high blood pressure.

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Scientist Ted Sourkes pioneered Parkinsons treatment