Obituaries 2012

Reubin Andres (died on September 23, 2012, at age 89) was NIA’s first clinical director. He is known for the invention of the glucose-insulin clamp technique, a method that remains the gold standard in the study of glucose and insulin homeostasis, and for his original and fundamental observations on the hormonal abnormalities in diabetes.

Earl M. August (died on November 21, 2012, at age 54) was a senior scientist in NCI’s developmental therapeutics program (1990–1994).

Michael Balcom (died on September 10, 2012, at age 24) was one of the most trusted engineers in the Automation and Compound Management section in the NCATS Division of Pre-clinical Innovation.

William G. Banfield II (died on January 13, 2012, at age 91), a pioneer researcher in electron microscopy at NCI’s Laboratory of Pathology, retired in 1980 after a 26-year career at NIH. He was one of the first scientists to obtain images, in mice, of the tumor-causing polyoma virus. He helped develop the scanning electron microscope as well as the electron probe, a device that can identify small amounts of elements such as sodium, lead, and mercury in tissues and cells.

Bobbi Bennett (died on April 18, 2012, at age 70) was a science writer at NIH.

Albert Gilson Brown (died on January 28, 2012, at age 80) retired in 2004 after eight years as executive director of the Children’s Inn, a residential facility for families of children who are patients at NIH.

Benjamin T. Burton (died on December 22, 2012, at age 93) retired as NIDDK’s associate director for disease prevention and technology transfer and was named scientist emeritus in 1995. In 1960, Burton joined NIH and began studying kwashiorkor, or protein-deficiency malnutrition. By 1965, he and his colleagues were working on kidney dialysis, developing workable and clinically effective artificial kidneys and methods for treating end-stage renal disease. He helped develop protein supplements to fight malnutrition in developing countries and played a major role in developing new technology for kidney dialysis. His textbook Human Nutrition has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

Raymond F. Chen (died on November 14, 2012, at age 79) was a physician and NHLBI scientist (1963–1993) whose work helped advance the development of fluorescein angiograms of kidneys, retinas, and other organs.

Yuan-Who (Richard) Chen (died on October 1, 2012, at age 57), who joined the biostatistics group in NIDDK’s Office of the Director in 2009, provided biostatistical support to both the extramural and the intramural programs.

Nancy Boucot Cummings (died on March 27, 2012, at age 85) was the former director of NIDDK’s Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases—and the institute’s first female division head.

Lavora Clark Dash (died on April 21, 2012, at age 44) had a reputation as one of the best phlebotomists in the Clinical Center’s Department of Transfusion Medicine, which collects blood donations for patients as well as for intramural researchers.

Barry Davis (died on July 3, 2012, at age 65) joined NIH in 1999 as the director of NIDCD’s taste and smell program. His research interests included the anatomical, physiological, and biochemical similarities and differences among brain structures involved in the processing of taste and smell.

Vernice Ferguson (died on December 8, 2012, at age 84) was the chief nurse at the Clinical Center (1972–1980) and went on to become the chief nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Henriette P.D. Fredrickson (died on January 22, 2012, at age 87) was the wife of Donald S. Fredrickson, who served as NIH director from 1975 to 1981 and died in 2002.

William I. “Bill” Gay (died on October 11, 2012, at age 86), who retired in 1988 after 34 years of involvement with animal issues at NIH, was director of the Division of Research Resources’ Animal Resources Program and later served as president of the NIH Alumni Association.

Juliet Guroff (died on August 24, 2012, at age 80) was a psychiatric researcher who specialized in family genetics studies at NIMH.

William A. Hagins (died on June 6, 2012, at age 83), chief of the Section of Membrane Biophysics in NIDDK’s Laboratory of Chemical Physics, retired in 2007. In the 1960s, Hagins and his group showed how the eye transforms images in the retina to produce the sensation of vision.

Edward Handelsman (died on March 5, 2012, at age 49) was chief of the Maternal, Adolescent and Pediatric Research Branch in NIAID’s Division of AIDS. Before joining NIAID in 2006, Handelsman worked as a pediatrician specializing in caring for children and adolescents infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). His most important achievement at NIAID was his work on the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral study, which in 2007 found that the risk of death for HIV-infected infants treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately after diagnosis was significantly lower than that for babies who did not begin treatment until they showed signs of illness or of a weakened immune system. Based on this finding, the World Health Organization revised its treatment guidelines the following year to recommend that ART begin immediately after HIV diagnosis in HIV-infected children, regardless of their health status.

Edgar E. Hanna, Jr. (died on December 1, 2012, at age 79) was a senior microbiologist and scientific review administrator in NICHD and section chief in NICHD’s Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity (1983–1990). He retired in 1999.

Robert S. Ledley (died on July 24, 2012, at age 86) was a dentist turned biomedical researcher who invented the first computed tomography scanner capable of producing cross-sectional images of any part of the human body. In 1957, the National Academy of Sciences–National Research Council hired him to conduct a national survey of current and potential computer use in biology and medicine in the United States. His resulting article, published in Science in 1959, helped shape NIH’s first major effort to encourage biomedical researchers to use computers.

Annabel G. Liebelt (died on Sept. 10, 2012, at age 86) started her career in NCI’s Pathology Department as a summer student before getting her Ph.D. in microscopic anatomy. She went on to have a distinguished academic career in the field of animal cancer research and returned to NCI as an expert and guest researcher. Her leadership of the Kirschbaum Memorial Mouse Colony contributed to its national and international recognition as a resource for rodent cancer research.

Cedric W. Long (died on May 3, 2012, at age 75), assistant director of NCI’s Division of Extramural Activities, was an intramural researcher who investigated factors controlling the expression of leukemia and sarcoma viruses and how they relate to cell growth and malignant transformation of tissues.

Charles U. Lowe (died on February 9, 2012, at age 90) was a former associate director of special projects at NICHD and played a leading role in the clinical trials that tested vaccines later approved for the prevention of pertussis and typhoid fever. A distinguished research scientist, pediatrician, and administrator, Lowe joined NICHD in 1968 as scientific director and led the institute’s intramural research effort, focusing on nutrition and developmental disorders.

Teresa Isabel Mercado (died on March 11, 2012, at age 90) was a researcher in NIAID’s Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases for about 30 years beginning in the 1950s. She studied Chagas disease, a potentially life-threatening illness spread by insects and found mainly in Latin America.

Gaetano F. Molinari (died on December 14, 2012, at age 76) was head of stroke research in NINDS (1972–1975) before becoming neurology department chairman at George Washington University (1976–1991).

Gregory T. O’Conor (died on August 22, 2012, at age 88), a pathologist, began a 25-year career at NCI, in 1960, in cancer research, clinical medicine, and teaching. He was director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Cause and Prevention and associate director of International Affairs.

Nicholas M. Papadopoulos (died on July 11, 2012, at age 88) retired as chief of clinical chemistry at NIH in 1992. His research included chemistry pertaining to such conditions as systemic autoimmune disorders, autoimmune peripheral neuropathies, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS.

Earl S. Pollack (died on June 11, 2012, at age 89) was a biostatistician who spent decades working at the NIH, becoming chief of biometry at the NCI by the 1980s.

David B. Scott (died on June 8, 2012, at age 93) served as director of the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR)—renamed the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in 1998—from 1976 until his retirement in 1981. An internationally recognized expert on calcified and mineralized tissues, he was among the first to use electron microscopy to study the structure of tooth enamel and dentin as well as sodium fluoride’s action on enamel. He also became one of the nation’s first few recognized authorities on dental forensics. Scott joined the Public Health Service (PHS) in 1944 and worked in NIH’s dental research section and then NIDR when it was established in 1948. He was chief of NIDR’s Laboratory of Histology and Pathology from 1956 to 1965 before retiring from PHS to serve on the dental and medical school faculties of Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) and later as dean of the School of Dentistry. In 1976, he returned to NIDR as director, resuming active duty with the PHS and becoming a rear admiral and an assistant surgeon general. Scott held the post until the end of 1981, when he retired a second time.

Toni Shippenberg (died June 25, 2012, at age 55) was one of NIH’s experts on opiate and psychostimulant research and chief of NIDA’s Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch. Her research focused on the contribution of endogenous opioid peptide systems to the restructuring of brain circuits that occurs during drug use, fostering relapse and addition; and the identification of effective, non-opioid targets for the treatment of persistent pain.

Audrey L. Stone (died on August 7, 2012, at age 85) was a biochemist who worked as a senior researcher for more than 50 years at the NICHD. She studied glycobiology and worked on the development of carbohydrate-based HIV and malaria vaccines.

Carol Sullivan (died on March 1, 2012, at age 74) was a medical journal indexer for the National Library of Medicine for 30 years.

Celia Tabor (died on December 2, 2012, at age 94), a pioneering female scientist in NIDDK and an expert on the biosynthesis of polyamines, was a constant presence at NIH for 50 years (1952–2005). She worked closely with her husband, Herbert Tabor, who survives her.

Henry de Forest Webster (died on November 16, 2012, at age 84) came to NIH in 1969 after teaching for 10 years at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) and the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.). He was made chief of NINDS’s Section on Cellular Neuropathology and later became chief of the Laboratory of Experimental Neuropathology. His work advanced knowledge of multiple sclerosis and the development of potential means of treating it. He was also a pioneer in using the electron microscopic to study normal and diseased cells of the nervous system.

Nancy Weissman (died on September 27, 2012, at age 65) was a clinical social worker who retired in 2006 from NCI. Her work included helping families at high risk of cancer cope with psychological issues.

Janice Hauft Weymouth (died on January 2, 2012, at age 63) was executive director of NIH’s Safra Lodge (2004–2007), a place of respite for families and loved ones of adult patients who are receiving care at the NIH Clinical Center. She began working at NIH in 1970, and from 1983 until 2000 she helped manage the Clinical Center space and facilities.

THESE 2012 OBITUARIES REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE NIH INTRAMURAL RESEARCH PROGRAM DURING THEIR CAREERS.