Researcher at the NIH. For much of his career Dr. Ashwell served as chief of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Metabolism at the Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, where he was best known as the co-discoverer of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in the liver, now also known as the Ashwell-Morell receptor and perhaps the first receptor ever described. Researchers worldwide use the basis of Dr. Ashwell's work with Anatol G Morell to deliver drugs specifically to the liver. An earlier focus of Dr. Ashwell's research was intermediary metabolism. He is credited with the discoveries of D-xylulose phosphate as an intermediate in the pentose cycle; several intermediates in the catabolism of vitamin C; and beta-ketogulonic acid as an intermediate in the synthesis of L-xylulose, the key sugar in pentosuria, a carbohydrate metabolism disorder. He received the Gairdner Foundation Prize, the ASBC-Merck Prize, the ASBC-Merck Prize, an honorary degree from the University of Paris, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior Scientist Award. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Photo.