Dr. Ivan Bihler was born in the former European country of Yugoslavia on August 12, 1924. After his service in the Yugoslav National Liberation Army in the Second World War, Dr. Bihler began his studies in chemical engineering at the University of Zagreb in 1946. Dr. Bilher received both a M.Sc. in Chemistry in 1953 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry 1957 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His postdoctoral training period included a year at the University of Rochester followed by two years at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in the Department of Biochemistry. Following a fellowship in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Bihler accepted an academic appointment with the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba in 1963. In addition to his appointments at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Bihler was a Career Investigator for the Medical Research Council of Canada and was a visiting professor at a number of institutions including the University of Geneva and the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London.
Dr. Bilher’s research primarily focused on membrane function with special reference to the integration of membrane transport with cell function and metabolism. Dr. Bilher’s research on the transport of glucose and its regulation led to the discovery of the calcium dependence of this process in muscle and other tissue. In 1987, Dr. Bihler was awarded the Upjohn Award by the Pharmacological Society of Canada for his significant contributions to research in pharmacology. Dr. Biher’s interests outside of medical research were languages (he was fluent in English, French, Serbo-Croatian, German, Hebrew, and Italian) in addition to travel and the arts which he enjoyed with his wife Lenka Magda Bihler. Dr. Ivan Bihler retired from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba as Professor Emeritus in 1993 and passed away in 1999.

Education: MSc(Chem) 1953; PhD 1957 both Hebrew U of Jerusalem

Positions: Dept Pharm & Therapeutics (UM): Asst Prof 1963, Assoc Prof 1965, Prof 1967-1993; Prof Emeritus 1993-1999