Kenneth Brinkhous
Kenneth Merle Brinkhous (1908–2000) was a professor and chairperson in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Brinkhous remained active in research until shortly before his death. Education Brinkhous graduated from the University of Iowa Medical School with an M.D. in 1932 and trained in the specialty of pathology there. His mentor, Dr. Harry P. Smith, led a training program that combined clinical aspects of pathology and laboratory research, the latter focusing on aspects of blood coagulation. While in Iowa, Dr. Brinkhous carried out research on hemophilia as part of a research team that included several other physicians interested in coagulation. Brinkhous made the seminal discovery of antihemophilic factor (Factor VIII) and showed that it was lacking in hemophiliac patients. His research in Iowa was disrupted by World War II. During that conflict, Dr. Brinkhous commanded an Army laboratory in Australia, which served as a reference facility for the U. S. military forces in the South Pacific. After the war he returned to Iowa, but did not remain there long. Career at the University of North Carolina In 1946, Brinkhous accepted the chairmanship of pathology at the University of North Carolina