Lal C. Garg, Ph.D., professor, pharmacology and therapeutics retires

Lal C. Garg, Ph.D., an award-winning professor of pharmacology and therapeutics, retires after 33 years of service to the university.

Garg has researched elucidation and regulation of the biochemical mechanisms of electrolyte transport in various organs. In the 1970s he discovered a new isoenzyme of carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme involved in the acid-base balance of the body. In the 1980s and 1990s, while studying kidney function, he developed a system for measuring a sodium-transporting enzyme in the kidney’s nephron segments and demonstrated that mineral ocorticoids, steroids found in the adrenal cortex, regulate this enzyme in a few specific areas.

He also discovered an acid-transport system in the kidney that was previously thought to be present only in the stomach, and demonstrated that cholinergic drugs, used to treat conditions including glaucoma and severe muscle weakness, affect electrolyte transport in the kidney.

Garg said he enjoyed working with students and got a lot of satisfaction out of teaching. After retirement, he plans to travel and to continue to contribute to education efforts in the department of pharmacology and therapeutics.