W. Ross Adey, M.D.

1999 Hans Selye Award

W. Ross Adey, M.D. has Chaired or participated in sessions dealing with the psychophysiologic effects of weak magnetic fields and communications between cells at almost every Congress since their inception. A skilled physician, whose bibliography begins with a 1949 case report of a patient with thyrotoxic myopathy, he apparently found laboratory research to be more rewarding. With the exception of his contributions to our understanding of space medicine and physiology, the remainder of the more than 400 papers, chapters and books he has authored are devoted to such basic science interests as electromagnetic field interactions with biological systems, cell membrane organization and intercellular communication, organization of cerebral systems and cellular mechanisms, bioengineering computer applications in medical imaging, physiologic data analysis, and modeling of brain mechanisms and systems. His superb achievements in these areas have been acknowledged by his peers with numerous honors here and abroad, including Fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the D’Arsonval Award from the Biolelectromagnetics Society, the Sechenov medal of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and his appointment as Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Royal Society of Medicine in the U.K. Ross had an extremely productive career with the Veterans Administration and presently serves as Distinguished Service Professor at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry, University of California at Riverside. His other wide range of interests and hobbies are ham radio, photography, radio astronomy, skiing, backpacking, opera, marathon running (which he continues to participate although well into his seventies), and a deep devotion to his native Australia and love of its natural beauty. Ross Adey is perhaps best known for the “Adey Window” which has significantly increased our understanding of how the biological effects of feeble electromagnetic fields are mediated. Many of the presentations at the Tenth International Congress on Stress dealt with this topic.