George Gomori’s Contributions to Diabetes Research and the Origins of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry

Over a period of almost 30 years, Gomori was one of the most prolific and productive investigators in the emerging field of enzyme histochemistry and was recognized by his peers as a pioneer in developing methods for the histochemical demonstration of hydrolytic enzyme activity, most notably phosphatases, esterases, and lipases. Gomori also made important contributions to diabetes research by developing histological techniques that reliably stained the insulin-secreting B cell of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Gomori’s aldehyde fuchsin staining method was standard for pathological and physiological studies on islet B cells in relation to diabetes and obesity until insulin antibodies became widely available for immunohistochemical identification of B cells. Gomori was a founding member of The Histochemical Society in 1950. When the HCS established the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry in 1953, Gomori served as one of the first Associate Editors. He also served as President of The Histochemical Society.