Christian Rudolf Hubert Raetz, MD, PhD, George Barth Geller professor of biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center, died in August. Recognized for his work on the enzymology, genetics, and structural biology of lipid A assembly, Dr. Raetz had served at Duke University Medical Center since 1993.
Dr. Raetz was a native of East Berlin, and he immigrated to the United States with his parents in the early 1950s. He earned his baccalaureate degree in chemistry at Yale University and his MD and PhD degrees from Harvard Medical School (HMS). His thesis work on the enzymatic mechanism of phosphatidylserine synthesis in Escherichia coli and the role of liponucleotides in membrane biogenesis was completed under the direction of Eugene P. Kennedy.
After completing his studies at HMS in 1973, Dr. Raetz subsequently served as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he worked under the direction of Herbert Tabor, MD. He then served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin before joining Merck Research Laboratories as executive director of biochemistry. Dr. Raetz was serving as the executive vice president of research in biochemistry and microbiology at Merck just before joining Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. Raetz was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received numerous honors for his work, including the 2006 Frederik B. Bang Award from the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s 2002 Avanti Award in Lipids.
James J. Young
James J. Young, PhD, former dean of the schools of medicine and allied health sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, died August 31 at the age of 84. Dr. Young retired in 2000, having served as Dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences (now the School of Health Professions) from 1987 to 1990 and subsequently as Dean of the School of Medicine beginning in 1990.
Dr. Young served in the in the US Army Medical Department for nearly 36 years, retiring as Chief of The Army Medical Service Corps in 1981. While on active duty, Dr. Young earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland by attending night school and completing correspondence courses. He then earned a master’s degree in hospital administration from Baylor University and PhD in health care and hospital administration from the University of Iowa.
During his Army career, Dr. Young was assigned domestic and overseas duties and was an officer in the field medical units in the European Command. He was director of health care organization and management analysis at the Office of the Surgeon General from 1969 to 1971. He then served in the Office of the Surgeon, Military Assistance Command Vietnam, before becoming Chief of the Army Medical Service Corps. Following retirement from the Army, Dr. Young was Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of West Virginia. Dr. Young received numerous honors for his service, including the Legion of Merit Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, The Distinguished Service Medal, and the Vietnamese Air Service Medal.
Douglas Surgenor
Douglas M. Surgenor, PhD, pioneer in blood collection and transfusion methods and former Dean and Health Sciences Provost at the University of Buffalo (UB), died in August at age 93.
A biochemist, Dr. Surgenor earned his PhD in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1946. During his time at MIT, Dr. Surgenor worked with scientists in the laboratory of Edwin J. Cohn in the Department of Physical Chemistry at HMS. This collaboration yielded important discoveries in the area of protein chemistry and led to development of the Cohn process for plasma fractionation.
In 1945, Dr. Surgenor joined the faculty of HMS, where he served until accepting a post as chair of the Department of Biochemistry at UB in 1960. During his tenure at UB, he served as dean of the medical school from 1962 to 1968 and as provost of the faculty of health sciences from 1967 to 1970. He served as research professor in the UB School of Management from 1971 until returning to Boston as a visiting professor in pediatrics at HMS in 1977.
During his career, Dr. Surgenor held several advisory positions at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health. He was a former President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Blood Research in Boston, as well as former President of the American Red Cross Blood Services, Northeast Region. Dr. Surgenor was honored for Distinguished Service to Research by the American Heart Association and the American Association of Blood Banks.
Kenneth P. Johnson
Kenneth P. Johnson, MD, former chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, died in September at age 79. Dr. Johnson was an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS) research and treatment. His work was pivotal in achieving US Food and Drug Administration approval of both Betaseron (1993) and Copaxone (1996) as therapies for treating MS.
Dr. Johnson’s work was supported continuously for 3 decades by NIH research funding, with additional support from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Veterans Administration Research Service. He held faculty positions at Case Western Reserve and the University of California, San Francisco, where he also conducted MS research at the Veterans Administration Hospital before joining the University of Maryland in 1981 as chairman of the department of neurology.
Dr. Johnson earned his MD from Jefferson University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. He completed internship at Buffalo General Hospital in Buffalo, NY, where he began residency in neurology. His residency was interrupted in 1961 when he left to serve the Navy at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. In 1965, he completed residency at the University Hospital in Cleveland and subsequently completed a neurological residency at Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Johnson served in a variety of leadership posts, including service as president of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers. He was honored by the American Academy of Neurology and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in New York with the Annual Dystel Prize for Outstanding MS Research in 2000.