- Email: [email protected]
In memory of Jorge Heller
Journal of Controlled Release 139 (2009) 173
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Controlled Release j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / j c o n r e l
Obituary
In memory of Jorge Heller
Jorge Heller (1927-2009) We sadly announce that our friend and colleague Jorge Heller passed away on June 8, 2009. Jorge was born in Czechoslovakia in 1927 and moved with his family to Argentina in 1939. After completing high school in Buenos Aires, Jorge moved to the United States in 1948. He received his B.S. degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Washington in Seattle. After a position with Union Carbide, he accepted a position at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park as a director of a new polymer program. Later he became the director of the Controlled Release and Biomedical Polymers Department. In the late sixties he joined ALZA and developed the biodegradable poly(orthoesters). In 1974 he returned to SRI to continue his research on poly(orthoesters). In 1994, he left SRI to join AP Pharma as a principal scientist. For almost thirty years Jorge taught the Advances in Controlled Drug Delivery course at MIT for researchers and engineers from Industry. Jorge was one of the leading scientists in the area of Controlled Release. I met Jorge for the first time at one of the meetings of the Controlled Release Society (CRS). He was one of the driving forces of the CRS and served as the president from 1989 to 1990. He received the CRS Distinguished Service Award in 1995 and more recently the CRS Founders' award in 2006. In 1983, Jorge, Sung Wan Kim, James Anderson and I had a meeting in Salt Lake City to discuss initiatives to stimulate the field of Controlled Release. At that meeting we decided that it was the right time to start a doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2009.07.010
journal on Controlled Release and to take some further initiatives to organize Symposia on Advances in Drug Delivery. Jorge and I teamed up to initiate the Journal of Controlled Release, while Sung Wan and James started with the biannual series of International Symposia in Salt Lake City. Elsevier was very interested to publish the Journal. During the meeting in Salt Lake City we designed the Journal's logo, which was accepted immediately by Elsevier. For many years Jorge and I worked together on the Journal. During that time we got to know each other much better. Jorge loved the science of controlled release, put in an enormous effort and had a no-nonsense approach, which has been essential to make the Journal a great success. The Journal of Controlled Release Award is given in Jorge Heller's name. The proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems, which took place in 1985 in Salt Lake City, were published in The Journal of Controlled Release. From that time on all forthcoming proceedings were published in the Journal. The 7th International Symposium was held in honor of Jorge. In 1990, Jorge, Tom Sam and I initiated the biannual European Symposia on Controlled Drug Delivery in Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. Jorge gave the first presentation on ‘Recent developments in the synthesis and utilization of poly(orthoesters)’. The proceedings of the European symposia were also published as special issues in the Journal of Controlled Release. Last year we had the tenth Symposium, co-organized by Jorge. Jorge never missed any of the Symposia. I still see Jorge joining us in Holland. He always came in with a big smile and a firm handshake, and was eager to discuss science with our colleagues, especially with the younger scientists. He tackled all problems in a straightforward way, was direct, always enthusiastic, and stimulated the participants with his very positive contributions. We will miss Jorge not only as an eminent scientist, who was instrumental in developing the science of controlled drug delivery, but also as a good friend. During our recent visit to the United States my wife and I were planning to visit Jorge and Gloria to spend time together. But our visit was several days too late. On the 13th of June we were together with Gloria, the family and friends in Ashland to say farewell to Jorge in the way Jorge had wanted. Our thoughts are with Gloria, the family and friends. Jorge, we thank you for everything. You will always be with us.
Jan Feijen University of Twente, The Netherlands E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Controlled Release j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / j c o n r e l
Obituary
In memory of Jorge Heller
Jorge Heller (1927-2009) We sadly announce that our friend and colleague Jorge Heller passed away on June 8, 2009. Jorge was born in Czechoslovakia in 1927 and moved with his family to Argentina in 1939. After completing high school in Buenos Aires, Jorge moved to the United States in 1948. He received his B.S. degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Washington in Seattle. After a position with Union Carbide, he accepted a position at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park as a director of a new polymer program. Later he became the director of the Controlled Release and Biomedical Polymers Department. In the late sixties he joined ALZA and developed the biodegradable poly(orthoesters). In 1974 he returned to SRI to continue his research on poly(orthoesters). In 1994, he left SRI to join AP Pharma as a principal scientist. For almost thirty years Jorge taught the Advances in Controlled Drug Delivery course at MIT for researchers and engineers from Industry. Jorge was one of the leading scientists in the area of Controlled Release. I met Jorge for the first time at one of the meetings of the Controlled Release Society (CRS). He was one of the driving forces of the CRS and served as the president from 1989 to 1990. He received the CRS Distinguished Service Award in 1995 and more recently the CRS Founders' award in 2006. In 1983, Jorge, Sung Wan Kim, James Anderson and I had a meeting in Salt Lake City to discuss initiatives to stimulate the field of Controlled Release. At that meeting we decided that it was the right time to start a doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2009.07.010
journal on Controlled Release and to take some further initiatives to organize Symposia on Advances in Drug Delivery. Jorge and I teamed up to initiate the Journal of Controlled Release, while Sung Wan and James started with the biannual series of International Symposia in Salt Lake City. Elsevier was very interested to publish the Journal. During the meeting in Salt Lake City we designed the Journal's logo, which was accepted immediately by Elsevier. For many years Jorge and I worked together on the Journal. During that time we got to know each other much better. Jorge loved the science of controlled release, put in an enormous effort and had a no-nonsense approach, which has been essential to make the Journal a great success. The Journal of Controlled Release Award is given in Jorge Heller's name. The proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery Systems, which took place in 1985 in Salt Lake City, were published in The Journal of Controlled Release. From that time on all forthcoming proceedings were published in the Journal. The 7th International Symposium was held in honor of Jorge. In 1990, Jorge, Tom Sam and I initiated the biannual European Symposia on Controlled Drug Delivery in Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. Jorge gave the first presentation on ‘Recent developments in the synthesis and utilization of poly(orthoesters)’. The proceedings of the European symposia were also published as special issues in the Journal of Controlled Release. Last year we had the tenth Symposium, co-organized by Jorge. Jorge never missed any of the Symposia. I still see Jorge joining us in Holland. He always came in with a big smile and a firm handshake, and was eager to discuss science with our colleagues, especially with the younger scientists. He tackled all problems in a straightforward way, was direct, always enthusiastic, and stimulated the participants with his very positive contributions. We will miss Jorge not only as an eminent scientist, who was instrumental in developing the science of controlled drug delivery, but also as a good friend. During our recent visit to the United States my wife and I were planning to visit Jorge and Gloria to spend time together. But our visit was several days too late. On the 13th of June we were together with Gloria, the family and friends in Ashland to say farewell to Jorge in the way Jorge had wanted. Our thoughts are with Gloria, the family and friends. Jorge, we thank you for everything. You will always be with us.
Jan Feijen University of Twente, The Netherlands E-mail address: [email protected].