NIH Obituaries

Paying Tribute

Each year, the NIH Catalyst pays tribute in the January–February issue to NIH employees past and present who are no longer with us. Our condolences are with their friends, family, and colleagues who knew and loved them.

Akwasi Addae, 45 (died Jan. 10), joined NIH in 2015 and was an electrician in the Clinical Center Facilities Management Branch.

Robert (Bob) Adelstein, 90 (died May 6), came to NHLBI in 1966 and became chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Cardiology in 1981. His lab was internationally known in understanding the various mechanisms for regulating smooth muscle contraction.

James Selby Alexander, 88 (died Oct. 7), was appointed NIH’s first equal employment opportunity officer at the Clinical Center in 1974 and founded the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education. He served NIH for more than 30 years conducting targeted outreach to increase the applicant pool of diverse scientists.

Bruce Ames, 95 (died Oct. 5), worked at NIH from 1953 to 1967, first as a postdoc, then as a biochemist, and then as chief of the Microbial Genetics Section in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in what is now NIDDK. He famously created the Ames test, a widely used tool to determine the mutagenic potential of chemical compounds.

Norman Anderson, 68 (died March 1), was a clinical psychologist who served as inaugural director of NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research from 1995 to 2000.

Bill Arnwine, 89 (died April 19), served in the United States Army before beginning a federal career working in a variety of capacities at NIH and the Department of Defense. He retired from NIH having served as mail manager and former chief of the Travel and Administrative Services Branch.

David Badman, 81 (died Oct. 12, 2023), was a hematology grants program director who advanced research on iron overload in children with sickle cell anemia, among his many other accomplishments. His career spanned three decades at NIDDK’s Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases before retiring in 2005.

Ellen Berg, 69 (died Aug. 9), was a nurse who worked at NIH for several years in the 1980s caring for some of the earliest patients with AIDS.

Hydeia Broadbent, 39 (died Feb. 20), was one of the first patients to stay at the Children’s Inn at NIH after it opened in 1990. Broadbent was 4 years old when she arrived at NIH as part of the first generation of HIV/AIDS research subjects.

Edwarda Buda-Okreglak, 75 (died May 6), was a physician who specialized in hematology-oncology and was associated with Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the NIH during her career.

C. Norman Coleman, 79 (died March 1), came to NCI in 1999 as a senior investigator and served as associate director of the Radiation Research Program in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. Coleman wrote extensively in the fields of radiation modifiers and on preparedness and planning for radiological or nuclear emergencies and global health.

Norvell “Van” Coots, 65 (died June 12), forged a distinguished 36-year career as a United States Army officer before coming to NIH in 2021. Coots was chair of the Clinical Center Research Hospital Board, which oversees operations at the NIH Clinical Center focused on policy to strengthen clinical care quality, oversight, and compliance.

Igor Dawid, 88 (died Feb. 13), was a developmental biologist who came to NCI in 1978. In 1981, he was appointed chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at NICHD, where he continued to make discoveries about early development until his retirement in 2016. Among his honors, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1981.

Seema Desai (died April 2024) came to NIH in 2022 and was a program director in NIMHD’s Division of Integrative Biological and Behavioral Sciences. She was an immunologist, microbiologist, and HIV research scientist with multidisciplinary minority health research experience and was widely recognized for her scientific contributions in those areas.

Robert Eiss, 69 (died Oct. 2023), came to the Fogarty International Center in 1993 and served as a program officer at the Division of International Relations and later as director of the Office of International Science Policy and Analysis.

Claire Fagin, 97 (died Jan. 16), was a trailblazer in the field of nursing and nursing research. She came to NIH in the early 1950s to serve as the first director of children’s programs at the NIH Clinical Center for NIMH.

Ned Feder, 95 (died March 26), began his 40-year career at NIH in 1967 and was known as a staunch advocate for integrity in science and medicine. His research ranged widely from studies on fungus and fungal infections, to developing methods of preparing tissues, some of which are still in use today.

Gary Felsenfeld, 94 (died May 1), came to NIDDK in 1961 and was known for his research on how chromatin structure and its role in gene expression and epigenetic regulation are associated with diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Read more about his life and work here. For a glimpse into Felsenfeld's sense of humor, check out this issue's Photographic Moment.

Franklin Marshall Fountain, 89 (died Feb. 7), joined NIAID in 1978 as equal employment opportunity coordinator, where he served until his retirement.

John Gallin, 81 (died Oct. 1), was an eminent clinician-scientist who led the NIH Clinical Center from 1994 to 2017 as its longest serving director. Gallin began his decorated career at NIAID in 1971 and leaves his legacy in the next generation of clinical researchers through his passion for mentorship and training. He also served as editor of the NIH Catalyst from its first issue, in 1993, through the March–April 2023 issue, when he retired from the NIH.

Harry Handelsman (died Nov. 3) was an osteopathic physician who came to NIH in 1973 and joined NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program as a project officer. He worked at NIH for over a decade in several roles including positions at the Division of Cancer Control and Rehabilitation, and the Division of Resources, Centers, and Community Activities.

Caroline Hannaway, 81 (died March 14), was a historian and editor at the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum from 1992 to 2008. Her work included contributing to the office’s oral history collection and to the history of HIV-AIDS.

Dale Hereld, 64 (died April 26), joined NIAAA in 2008 to oversee the basic research portfolio on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders within the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects. Hereld's areas of expertise included signal transduction and chemotaxis, and he represented NIAAA on several NIH-wide committees and projects until his retirement in 2018.

Wanda Hill, 65 (died Oct. 17), dedicated over 40 years to federal service including 22 years as a program support specialist in the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP). Before coming to ODP, Hill supported the director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at NCI.

Marian Kafka, 96 (died March 15), came to NIH as a research scientist in 1965. She joined NIMH in 1982 and became head of a neurobiology and psychopharmacology grant-review committee from 1986 to 1990. Kafka's work included research on cell membranes, nerve receptors, and circadian rhythms.

Edward Korn, 95 (died March 31), joined NHLBI in 1954, where he established his own Laboratory of Cell Biology in 1974 and pursued pioneering research in cytoskeletal biology and biochemistry for the next 65 years. He served as scientific director of NHLBI and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990.

Thomas Lehner, 64 (died Nov. 6), worked at NIMH for 15 years. He was a distinguished scientist and pioneer in neuropsychiatric disease genomics whose work significantly advanced our understanding of complex brain disorders.

Judith H. Levin, 89 (died Dec. 8, 2023), joined NHLBI in 1962 and then NICHD from 1973 until her retirement in 2014. She was known for her research on the molecular mechanisms involved in retrovirus replication.

William B. Marks, 90 (died June 9), was a biophysicist whose research at NINDS focused on the neurophysiology of locomotion and computer modeling of the growth of neurons in three dimensions.

Henry McFarland, 83 (died Jan. 11), joined NINDS in 1975 and was a distinguished figure in the field of multiple sclerosis research until his retirement in 2009.

Ralph Nossal, 86 (died Nov. 2), came to NIH in 1966 and was a senior investigator and lab chief at NICHD’s Division of Basic and Translational Biophysics. Nossal developed the model for laser Doppler measurements of the blood flow in tissues and elucidated the physical mechanism of the negative resistance of biological membranes containing voltage-dependent ion channels.

Harish Pant, 85 (died Dec. 22, 2023), joined NIMH in 1974 and made many contributions to the understanding of neuronal cell biology and the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders.

Paul D. Parkman, 91 (died May 7), came to NIH in 1963 and worked in the Laboratory of Viral Immunology at NIH’s Division of Biologics Standards. He was the first person to isolate the rubella virus and partnered with Harry Meyer to develop the vaccine that would prevent infection and the resulting birth defects.

Dilys Parry, 80 (died Feb. 2), was a clinician and principal investigator at NCI for 30 years before retiring in 2007. Her medical genetics research focused primarily on genetic and clinical studies of neurofibromatosis 2, chordoma, and adult brain tumors.

Paul Plotz, 86 (died Jan. 13), came to NIAMS in 1964 and dedicated nearly four decades of service to science at NIH. He was a rheumatologist and principal investigator who was recognized as an expert on myositis. Plotz was also scientist emeritus editor of the NIH Catalyst from 2015 to 2019.

Richard “Rick” Race, 78 (died Nov. 13, 2023), was a research veterinarian who studied prion diseases, infectious neurodegenerative diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, “mad cow disease,” in cattle. He came to NIAID in 1970 and worked for 37 years at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana.

J. Sri Ram, 95 (died March 2), joined NIH in 1965. He spent the last 28 years of his career at NHLBI and retired in 2005, where he served as group leader of the Training and Special Programs, Airway Biology and Disease Program in the Division of Lung Diseases.

Thomas Reese, 89 (died Oct. 11), was a world leader in structural neuroscience who developed cutting-edge applications that advanced understanding of synapses and cells in the brain. Reese, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was a senior investigator and chief of the Section on Structural Cell Biology at NINDS, where he served the worldwide scientific community for six decades.

Paul J. Schmidt, 97 (died Sep. 23, 2023), came to NIH in 1965 and became director of the Clinical Center blood bank, where he served until 1974.

Richard Julius Sherins, 87 (died Nov. 2), worked at NIH for 20 years and served as clinical investigator and section chief of reproductive endocrinology at NICHD. His research focused on male reproductive physiology, clinical application of treatments, and the effects of cancer treatments on male fertility.

Maxine Singer, 93 (died July 9), came to NIH in 1956 as a postdoctoral fellow. She conducted studies in the emerging field of nucleic acid research at NIAMDD and moved to NCI’s Laboratory of Biochemistry in 1975 to lead the Nucleic Acid Enzymology section, where she became chief in 1980. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1979.

Maria Spatz, 99 (died Jan. 26), was one of NIH’s first leading women scientists and known for her research on the blood-brain barrier at NINDS. She served as section chief in the Laboratory of Neuropathology and Neuroanatomical Sciences from 1970 to 1990 and the Stroke Branch from 1991 to 2005.

Margaret Becker Zurkowski, 91 (died Oct. 23), worked as a biologist at NIH’s Division of Biologics Standards and was known for her pioneering research with HeLa cells and significant contributions to the rubella vaccine.